Some clans, like the Quinns, still keep legally separate accounts but share strategy and cut deals together.

FORBES: Family Inc.

The Quinns are attempting to prove that the money was loaned illegally in order to prop up Anglo's share price.

BBC: Sean Quinn Sr: Mountjoy prison spell was 'tough'

But until a court says otherwise - and none has - those assets are only disputed in the minds of the Quinns and their supporters.

BBC: Sean Quinn's jailing reminiscent of Greek tragedy

The Quinns issued their statement through a local man, Jim McAllister.

ECONOMIST: Northern Ireland: Crime scene revisited | The

The bank claims the Quinns are attempting to move property assets into new firms which would cause it to lose security over significant sums of money.

BBC: anglo irish bank exterior

The prosecution of the Quinns has reawakened nationwide anguish and finger pointing about the reasons for the cataclysmic collapse of the Irish economy which had sailed so high on speculative fever for nearly 15 years.

FORBES: Ireland's Richest Man In Jail: The Collapse Of Celtic Dreams Continues

Describing the Quinns as a family who have "provided a lot of employment to the border county" in the past, Ms Swift said she believed it was important the council showed support "in good times and bad".

BBC: Fermanagh council to send letter of support to Quinns

The Quinns have denied the bank's allegations.

BBC: anglo irish bank exterior

His son, Sean Quinn Jr, also spent three months in jail last year for contempt of court as part of the Quinns' protracted legal battle with the Irish Bank Resolution Corporation (IBRC), which has taken over Anglo's affairs.

BBC: Sean Quinn Sr: Mountjoy prison spell was 'tough'

Although during the previous week the Quinns and the few other Catholics living nearby had been threatened and told to move out, a whispering campaign suggested other motives for the bombing: a paramilitary drugs dispute perhaps, or a family feud.

ECONOMIST: From forward march to retreat