[15] In an interview with Ireland's Sunday Business Post, Quinn attributed his initial success to the contacts he developed through the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA).
These contacts enabled him to build a company spanning both sides of the Irish border when, in 1973, he borrowed £100 and started extracting gravel from his family 23-acre (93,000 m2) farm, washing it and selling it to local builders.
[18] In the same month Quinn increased his share holding in the Anglo Irish Bank to approximately 5%, for an equivalent value of €570 million – financed through the group's equity and through a deal with the Swiss-based giant Credit Suisse.
[21] A large part of the subsequent loss can be linked to the well-publicised near collapse of the Anglo Irish Bank, which wiped out at least €2.8 billion of the family's wealth.
A group of clients known as the "Golden Circle" bought the shares, and, controversially (and illegally), the bank lent them €451 million to buy them.
"[23] The fines arose from a failure to notify the regulator of a loan of €288 million from Quinn Insurance to other firms in his group.
The cash was used by the Quinn family to cover falling stock market investments and finance share-buying in Anglo Irish Bank.
[27] With Anglo Irish Bank's financial difficulties Quinn was pursued in 2010 for his loans from it, then about €2.8 billion secured on property worth much less.
It was alleged by the liquidator that property owned in Russia worth $193m had been sold to a cousin, Peter Quinn, for $1,000 and a laptop computer.
[34] On 11 November 2011, Quinn said that he had applied for voluntary bankruptcy in Belfast, and issued a statement asking the media to consider his views as well as the bank's.
[35][36] The case was filed under his legal name of John Ignatius Quinn, using an address in Northern Ireland, and he admitted debts of €194m.
[10] In July 2012, Seán Quinn, his son Seán Jr and Peter Darragh Quinn were served with around 30 coercive court orders intended to reverse asset-stripping measures, after courts had earlier found that all three acted in contempt of orders restraining asset-stripping.
Seán Quinn was not jailed as the judge agreed to a request by IBRC that he remain free to secure compliance with the coercive orders.
[43] However, representatives of IBRC have complained that Seán Quinn Sr. has "done nothing to purge his contempt and reverse the asset stripping since the July 20th coercive orders were made".
[44] Seán Quinn was sentenced by Ms Justice Elizabeth Dunne at the High Court in Dublin on 2 November 2012 to 9 weeks in jail, noting that "In my view he has only himself to blame.
The cross-examination was conducted by lawyers for IBRC and the goal was to establish whether the members of the Quinn family have complied with court orders to provide full details of their bank accounts and other assets.
[46] As it turned out, substantial sums of money had been paid by Russian subsidiaries of Quinn's real estate business to his children and other family members in 2011/12.
For example, Colette Quinn received €340,000 after having allegedly signed a contract "without understanding it as it was in Russian"[47] and having "had no documents indicating what work she was expected to do".
[48] In July 2013 Mr Justice Peter Kelly of the High Court said that it was "simply incredible" to accept claims by five Quinn children and three of their spouses that they could not produce documents about their alleged employment by Russian companies.
[49] The Quinn Group had expanded into the hospitality industry overseas, with hotels in the Czech Republic, United Kingdom, Bulgaria and Poland.
[51] In fact, IBRC has hired Russian Alfa Group's asset recovery arm to enforce its claims.
[54][55] Peter became a financial advisor, and in 1990 he was elected President of the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA), Ireland's largest sporting and cultural organisation, a position he held between 1991 and 1994.
[43] Quinn lives with his wife and family in Ballyconnell, Tullyhaw, County Cavan, next to his Slieve Russell Hotel and just down the road from his birthplace in Derrylin.