A LARGE dumper truck has been driven into bollards at the entrance to the Co Fermanagh head offices of the Quinn Group.

The incident, which took place just after midnight yesterday, blocked the entrance to the Derrylin headquarters.

“Police in Enniskillen are investigating criminal damage caused to the front of commercial premises in Derrylin,” the PSNI said.

“At 12.30am a large earth-moving vehicle has been driven into bollards at the front of the property and abandoned, causing damage to the bollards.”

Last week, founder Seán Quinn was removed from his management position at the group by Anglo Irish Bank, which is owed €2.88 billion by the Quinn family.

A spokesman for umbrella organisation Concerned Irish Businesses said: “Quinn Group was built by Seán Quinn over a period of 37 years and, during that time, personal relationships were built with customers, suppliers and staff alike.

“Those relationships were broken as of last Thursday, a day when over 90,000 signatures who had pledged their support for Seán Quinn were handed into relevant authorities. However, those in authority failed to recognise these people, and their wishes.”

The new management team installed at the group were yesterday investigating threats against staff and evidence of potential industrial sabotage.A fibre-optic cable was severed yesterday afternoon between the head office at Derrylin and the group’s nearby cement plant.

A threat was also made to a member of staff who repaired the cable. He was advised to mind his personal security as a “traitor”. A second cable was later cut.

A major customer has withdrawn a substantial order but said that the decision could be reversed if a humane deal was done with Mr Quinn in relation to his house and his children’s employment and a cash settlement agreed.

A man claiming to be from accountancy firm KPMG – which was appointed share receiver by Anglo over the Quinn family’s shares in the group – contacted managers at the group’s hotels in Cambridge and Nottingham in the UK saying that they should cease trading immediately.

Another person purporting to be a KPMG employee contacted the general manager at the group’s Elton glass plant, calling for a meeting to discuss the restructuring of the business and its sale.

A spokesman for the Quinn family said that Mr Quinn had been contacted indirectly by the receiver appointed by Anglo – through executives at the group – to see if he could use his influence to have the dumper truck removed and that Mr Quinn had agreed to help.

There is no suggestion that Mr Quinn or any of his family were aware of these developments or had any involvement.