NOBODY could benefit from the disruption caused by attacks on people linked to Quinn Industrial Holdings, a former minister from the region has said.

Fianna Fáil TD Brendan Smith says locals don’t know who would hire a gang to abduct and assault businessman Kevin Lunney.

Asked who stands to benefit from such incidents, Mr Smith said: “Nobody can benefit from that.”

In conversation with IMN Group Political Editor Kevin Doyle and Irish Independent columnist John Downing on the ‘Floating Voter’ podcast, the long-served politician for Cavan/Monaghan said the community are “very angry”.

He said people “believed we were gone from the era of people being abducted, injuries being inflicted on a person and then that person being dumped on the side of a road”.

“As a community we are not going back to that era. Our communities both north and south will not tolerate that,” he said.

The podcast also looked at the latest drama in the Brexit shenanigans after the House of Commons was recalled.

Mr Downing describes recent events as “utterly insane” and “distressing to look at”.

He predicted Brexit is now likely to be delayed beyond October 31 and that Boris Johnson may even temporarily set aside as Prime Minister until an election.