A businessman has undergone leg surgery following his abduction and attack earlier this week.

Gardai and the PSNI are investigating after Quinn Industrial Holdings chief operating officer Kevin Lunney was abducted near his home in Derrylin, Fermanagh, on Tuesday evening.

He was taken to another location and attacked before being dumped hours later on the side of a road in Cavan with what were said to be “life-changing” injuries.

Quinn chief executive Liam McCaffrey described the attackers as “depraved individuals”.

Anything I say is not going to have an impact on the type of depraved individuals involved here

He told local radio station Northern Sound that Mr Lunney was moved from Cavan General Hospital to Drogheda General Hospital on Wednesday night for surgery.

He said: “He underwent a procedure to reset his leg. He had a steel pin in because it was broken in two places. He was happy to get that out of the way because it lessened his pain.”

Asked if he had a message for those who carried out the attack, Mr McCaffrey said: “Anything I say is not going to have an impact on the type of depraved individuals involved here.

“My message is clear to any decent human being listening on the radio today: If you have any inkling about who has carried this out, you need to get the information to the authorities.

“There is no question that these activities are designed to damage the business and employment prospects of our current employees and for us to secure investment and increase employment levels further.

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“We can’t shy away from saying that… I hope we get back on track again. There are challenges here such as Brexit, a potential recession in the UK if Brexit goes ahead coming down the line.

A director at one of Seán Quinn’s former companies Kevin Lunney was abducted from his home in Fermanagh last night. He was seriously assaulted and left on the side of a road across the border in Cavan. pic.twitter.com/6uvSVbmpVl — Áine McMahon (@AineMcMahon) September 18, 2019

“Yesterday we signed documentation to set up new companies so that we restructure the business to cope with a hard Brexit situation.”

He said while there are concerns about the impact the attack will have on his business, the owners and staff at QIH remain steadfast.

“The message I have to them is clear. We stick to our principles, we stick to our businesses. Our 830 employees are hard-working, dedicated people who work hard, go home and look after their families and are good to their communities,” he said.

“We have been contacted by institutions at a high level in this business and they have confirmed their ongoing and continued support for the businesses.”

Mr McCaffrey said there needs to be a greater police presence in the area as those responsible for the attack can “move with impunity from one jurisdiction to another”.

QIH staff and members of the local community are to hold a solidarity march for Mr Lunney in Derrylin on Friday.

The Chief Executive of Quinn Industrial Holdings, Liam McCaffrey has praised the company’s staff and says the company will “stick to its principles”.

In his first interview since the vicious attack on company director Kevin Lunney on Tuesday, Mr McCaffrey told local radio station Northern Sound that those those responsible were “depraved”.

Speaking on The Joe Finnegan Show on Friday, Mr McCaffrey said there needs to be a greater police presence in the area as those responsible for the attacks can “move with impunity from one jurisdiction to another”.

The company will stick to its plan and to its principles, he said.

“Our 834 staff are fabulous people, hard working, dedicated people. They turn up every morning and work hard and go home and look after their families and contribute to their communities. No different than what Kevin Lunney was doing.

“In addition to being an immensely talented executive, he was also a huge community man.”

Mr McCaffrey said that the company has been contacted “at a high level from the institutions who have invested in this business and they have confirmed and reconfirmed their absolute continuing support for the business.”

Quinn Industrial Holdings staff and members of the local community are to hold a solidarity march from the Head Office on the Ballyconnell road at 3pm today.

- Press Association, additional reporting Vivienne Clarke