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Seán Quinn arriving in court earlier this week. Niall Carson/PA Archive/Press Association Images

Seán Quinn goes to jail for nine weeks

But a decision is still to be made as to whether the man who was once Ireland’s richest will go to jail today.

Updated 1.15pm

THE BANKRUPT FORMER billionaire Seán Quinn will spend the next nine weeks in jail for contempt of court.

The man who was once the richest in Ireland has elected to go to prison today after being handed a nine week sentence at the High Court earlier. It means he will spend Christmas in jail.

Quinn had been considering whether or not to begin his sentence  today or ask to have it stayed until he appealed the sentence to the Supreme Court.

However his lawyers told the court this afternoon that he wished to begin his sentence today, RTÉ reports, adding that he had asked to be allowed out of prison to attend his granddaughter’s christening on 22 December.

Justice Elizabeth Dunne said that this was a matter for the prison authorities.

As he left the court, BBC News reports that he shook hands with supporters who had been present at today’s proceedings.

She sentenced Quinn at a hearing this morning referring to the contempt of court findings against the 66-year-old businessman at the court in June of this year.

Quinn’s son, Sean jr, was also found in contempt and has since served three months in jail but his nephew Peter Darragh Quinn, who was also found guilty, has avoided jail after travelling to Northern Irelnad.

The findings concern claims from the former Anglo Irish Bank – now Irish Bank Resolution Corporation – that Quinn and members of the Quinn family have asset stripped their property portfolio in Europe to put it beyond the reach of the bank which it is in millions of euro of debt to.

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    Mute Uncle Mort
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    May 26th 2013, 4:42 PM

    Will the home-grown ones be charged with treason?

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    Mute guardian
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    May 26th 2013, 4:47 PM

    Actually your dead right it is treason. No different if irish man for political beliefs kills garda or irish solider.

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    Mute John Michael
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    May 26th 2013, 6:43 PM

    Here we go again. It used to be a crime in England to be Irish. Now it’s a crime to be a Muslim. Where’s the evidence against these people? Knowing a criminal doesn’t make you one.

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    Mute ciaran clarke
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    May 26th 2013, 7:30 PM

    It does if you don’t report what their up too

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    Mute John Michael
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    May 26th 2013, 8:20 PM

    How quickly people forget.

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    Mute John Michael
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    May 26th 2013, 11:27 PM

    The judge in the Guilford Four case wondered why they had not been tried for treason so he could have “without doubt passed a sentence of death by hanging”. Attitudes seem to change when it’s happening to people you don’t like.

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    Mute Sarcaholik
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    May 26th 2013, 8:21 PM

    Should be interesting to see how long Cameron and Hague etc wait to arm their peers in Syria, now that Hezbollah have officially entered they fray?!?

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    Mute Uncle Mort
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    May 26th 2013, 8:36 PM

    Hizbullah, the contracts division of the Iranian Government

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    Mute Sarcaholik
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    May 26th 2013, 10:02 PM

    True but the best of a bad lot…..just ask the IDF and their affiliates!

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    Mute Stephen McMahon
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    May 27th 2013, 12:00 AM

    At least unlike Mossad they don’t carry out their dirty work using Irish passports. How soon we forget.

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