Wedding Bank-quet
Despite court cash battle, Quinn post-nuptial party is the most lavish ever seen at 5-star hotel
IT WAS the kind of opulent affair not seen since the heady days of the Celtic Tiger boom. A ballroom draped from floor to ceiling in the finest white muslin and silk linens, a free bar until 6am and the best vintage wines and Champagnes on offer.
Earlier on Friday morning, Sean Quinn jnr, son of bankrupt businessman Sean Quinn, had married his long-term love, blonde Karen Woods, the daughter of a publican. Up to 350 guests had gathered at the church in Castleknock, Co. Dublin, to witness them exchanging vows. They then made their way to the luxurious Ritz Carlton Hotel, nestled in the depths of the Wicklow countryside.
There, staff had been working tirelessly for what they described as one of the most lavish banquets they had ever seen. Thirty-five tables were set in the ballroom at the Powerscourt venue, bedecked in white and the finest of silverware. Even the floor was covered in white silks, giving it an extraordinary, fairy-tale-like atmosphere. The tuxedoed guests were first greeted with the finest bubbly at the plush foyer, complete with marble staircase and amazing views of the Sugarloaf mountain.
The wedding party spent up to an hour having professional photographs taken by a team of snappers in the famed grounds of the estate.
Magic
Bride Karen looked radiant in her designer wedding gown, while groom Sean jnr put his financial worries behind him for the day and revelled in the magic of the affair. Shortly before 7pm the guests were called to the ballroom, where they sat down to a five-course feast including soup, monkfish, fillet of beef and a choice of vintage French wines.
Guests later commented about the generosity of their hosts and were astounded that the bar was running a full tab for the two-day party. In the kitchens, busy staff had just finished serving when they were back to work preparing the midnight snacks of homemade mini burgers and crostini. Upstairs in the hotel every suite and deluxe room was booked out for the weekend, despite costing up to €450 per night. In the bars drink flowed freely, despite costing more than €10 for a spirit and baby mineral.
Local hotels took the overflow of guests and buses were laid on to ferry those who couldn't fit in the hotel. The dress code was strictly black tie, with men looking dapper in tuxedos and bow ties and the women in full-length ball gowns. It was an amazingly ostentatious display for a family who have spent the past few years fighting for their financial survival.
Just the day before, father and son Sean Quinn and Sean jnr and nephew Peter Darragh Quinn asked the High Court for an adjournment of their court battle with the former Anglo Irish Bank. The legal saga reached a peak this week with Anglo accusing the Quinns of breaching court orders by trying to move their assets beyond the bank's reach. The bank, which is now run by the Irish Bank Resolution Corporation, says the Quinns are in contempt of court and should be jailed for breaching orders relating to €500m which they are accused of putting beyond the reach of the bank.
Sean Quinn and his family are separately fighting proceedings, claiming they are not liable for €2.34billion in loans made by Anglo to Quinn's company's and that they were unlawfully made to prop up the bank's share price.
Fantastic
In his evidence Sean Quinn told the court his company had been "raped" by Anglo. But lawyers for the bank hit back claiming Quinn's evidence was "incredible and fantastic." The Quinn family clearly had few money concerns over the weekend and treated their guests to a second day at the opulent resort where they could be seen enjoying breakfast yesterday morning followed by a late afternoon barbeque on the lawns.
Karen, who comes from Castleknock in Dublin and works as a sales rep for Audi, has been dating Sean Jnr for years. The couple face an uncertain financial future with Sean jnr currently facing jail and bankruptcy.
"The wedding was amazing," one guest said. "Nobody put their hands in their pockets all day. He is an incredibly generous man and nobody brought up any of his money troubles."
Meet the suspected parasites behind the burglary epidemic sweeping Ireland. The Sunday World can reveal that these thieves are among the top targets for a massive Garda crackdown on house break-ins, which have rocketed as the recession has taken hold.
In recent weeks cops have had massive success against gangs who travel from Dublin to carry out up to a dozen burglaries in a single day. Gardai have been shocked at how young some of the burglars have been. Last month 35 year-old William 'Bill' Connors was arrested in Carlow in a stolen car along with four boys aged 15 and 16.The gang was caught with vice grips, a hatchet, snips and other housebreaking implements. 
Gardai are investigating the gang under the new anti-gangland legislation and have linked them to the robbery of high-powered cars, burglaries and 'tie-up jobs' across Ireland, where helpless pensioners are held hostage while their properties are robbed. The four teenagers who were arrested with Bill Connors are all related to 'Pale Miley' and the mob is regarded as being one of the country's most prolific burglary gangs. They steal high-powered cars in Dublin and drive to rural areas to carry out multiple burglaries in one day before hiding the loot, dumping the cars and driving home in their own vehicles.
Cash has been charged in relation to the incident, as have the two teenagers. Cash provoked the wrath of a judge in Bray district court, Co. Wicklow, last year when he was charged with handling stolen property. He had indicated that he would be pleading guilty, but on the day of the hearing he changed his mind, meaning that 15 witnesses had to be recalled. The judge said he was "playing ducks and drakes with the court".
The owner came back and disturbed the burglary and observed Cash shouting through the letter box "get out the window, M****y". Judge John Neilan said he was extremely concerned for elderly people being targeted by the likes of Cash and jailed her for 11 months to "reassure members of our society that this type of offence will not be tolerated". A total of 21 bench warrants were in existence for Cash.
Another active Operation Fiacla target is 'Fat' Andy Connors, the 43-year old burglar who lives in a €3m mansion on the Blessington Road, in Tallaght. Fat Andy was forced to put his plush house on the market after being hit with a €160,000 bill from the Criminal Assets Bureau. Connors, who has 17 criminal convictions, is currently before the courts charged with a burglary in Dundrum, south Dublin, 14 months ago. 'Fat' Andy is well-known to gardai and is notoriously media shy. 
Gary Gregg (23), from Bray, Co. Wicklow, is also a Fiacla target. In 2007 he was sent to jail for three years after being caught carrying out three burglaries and a car theft. He was arrested after being chased by a man whose house he had broken in to and admitted to gardai that he was responsible for other burglaries. Gregg has several convictions for thefts and burglaries and has a chronic drug addiction.