Sean Quinn, who was one Ireland's richest men has been declared bankrupt in a Belfast court on Friday.

Belfast High Court granted the 64-year-old insurance broker and construction entrepreneur a voluntary adjudication over an alleged €2.8bn (£2.4bn) debt owed to Anglo Irish Bank.

The Fermanagh man, who began a huge multi-faceted business with a local cement works was once worth €4.72bn (£3.7bn) at the height of his business success.

In a statement, Mr Quinn said he had done "absolutely everything in my power to avoid taking this drastic decision” and claimed the bank and the Government were “intent on making scapegoats of my family and I”.

Mr Quinn accepted debts of some €194 million to the Irish Bank Resolution Corporation (the now nationalised AIB and Irish Nationwide Building Society) for property loans, but disputed the rest of an alleged €2.8 billion debt, relating to Contracts for Difference (CFDs) used to buy Anglo Irish bank shares.

In a statement on their website, the IBRC said: "IBRC notes Sean Quinn’s application in Belfast for bankruptcy in the United Kingdom. Mr Quinn and his family, who live in Co Cavan, owe the Irish State, through IBRC almost €2.9 billion.

"The Bank is examining the validity of this application for bankruptcy in the light of Mr Quinn's residency and extensive business interests and liabilities within the State. The mandate of IBRC is to recover as much of the debts as possible on behalf of the Irish taxpayer and IBRC will continue to pursue maximum recovery of his debt."

Mr Quinn was stripped of his manufacturing and insurance business empire in April. Receivers then moved in removing he and his family from control of the Quinn Group.

(DW)