Bankrupt businessman Seán Quinn said today he and his family would apologise to the Irish public if his children lose a court battle with the former Anglo Irish Bank.

The Quinn family is currently involved in litigation with the Irish Bank Resolution Corporation over debts to the former Anglo Irish Bank and is challenging the legality of the actions of the bank in taking control of the Quinn group. The matter is due before the courts again on January 14th.

He said: “If the assets under dispute are found to belong to the Irish public and that they were taken legally by Anglo Irish Bank, and the receivership of the Quinn Group and administration of the Quinn Direct [was] done legally and correctly then we will apologise to the Irish public.”

However, if the family wins the case Mr Quinn said his reputation will be “repaired”, and told the Joe Finnegan show on Shannonside Northern Sound FM, that his reputation meant more to him than money.

Mr Quinn was released from Mountjoy prison yesterday after serving a nine-week sentence for contempt.

He was jailed on November 2nd after a High Court judge ruled his contempt of court orders, restraining stripping of multimillion assets from his family’s international property group, was so serious and outrageous that she must jail him.

He claimed the former Anglo Irish Bank was making him and his family a “scapegoat” and added “that is what saving them from being a national disaster and a national disgrace”.

He said the idea to put assets beyond the reach of the bank “wasn’t a very intelligent thing to do.”

Speaking about the asset-stripping he said: "I had no experience of doing anything behind anyone's back up until that. Some of these Russians and Ukrainians have a way of doing things and they have a society where things can be done."

He claimed there was “absolutely nothing” he can do to purge his contempt any further and was aware he could be jailed again.

Mr Quinn also thanked the thousands of people who sent him letters during his incarceration. “Not one of them were critical," he said. "I only ever received half a dozen critical letters in the last 40 years and none in the last two years or while I was in prison.”