Over four years in the making, and featuring candid testimony from Seán Quinn himself, the highly anticipated series Quinn Country is the story of the man who personified Ireland’s boom and subsequently, its bust.
In a change to scheduled programmes, Quinn Country will be shown over three consecutive nights in peak time on RTÉ One at 9.35pm, and available to stream on the RTÉ Player.
Made by the award-winning Fine Point Films for RTÉ, Quinn Country is produced and directed by Trevor Birney and produced by Andrew Tully.
With unprecedented access to Seán Quinn, the documentary series tells an extraordinary story. It is the story of how a farmer’s son from Derrylin on the Fermanagh / Cavan border managed to build an empire from the limestone and shale-filled ground on which he was raised. Charting the dramatic expansion of the Quinn empire, from manufacturing to hospitality, property and insurance, the series details how Seán Quinn became a ‘chieftain’ to his native region on the border; injecting employment, wealth and hope into a community which in part, remains fiercely loyal to him today. This series tells how, over the course of his career, Seán Quinn managed to go from school dropout to world the richest man in Ireland…only to lose it all.
Quinn tied his fortune and that of his businesses to the fate of Anglo-Irish Bank, making big bets on the bank’s share price as it tumbled to disaster. The state was forced to move in and begin the process of taking control of Quinn’s businesses. What followed were protracted legal battles, a campaign of intimidation and violence, and a brutal attack on one of his former employees.
This series brings Seán Quinn’s story up to date. It details the latest developments in a gripping saga; the legal battles between the Quinn family and the state, the changing relationship between Quinn and his former colleagues and the campaign of intimidation against companies formerly owned by Quinn, culminating in the horrific attack in 2019 on Seán Quinn’s former right-hand man, Kevin Lunney.
Told mainly in Seán Quinn’s own words, this series reveals an enigmatic and divisive character; someone who amassed an unimaginable fortune and then watched it disappear. It is a story about money and power, what it takes to amass them, and the battle to keep hold of them.
Episode One: Stone and Shite – Monday, 9.35pm
The first of a three-part series charting a 40-year career of staggering highs and lows. Starting from humble beginnings in Derrylin, Quinn’s empire was built on guts, gravel, granite, and genius.
Episode Two: Weer all crazee now – Tuesday, 9.35pm
Episode two of the three-part series examines the dramatic tipping point – the bursting of Sean Quinn’s billionaire bubble and spectacular downfall. Forensically unpicking the boom to bust years.
Episode Three: Is this what you want? – Wednesday, 9.35pm
This three-part series comes to a dramatic conclusion documenting Quinn’s legal battle with Anglo Irish Bank, the bitter fallout with former associates and the campaign of intimidation against them.