A GROUP set up to support Sean Quinn and his family after he lost control of his business empire has shut down its Facebook page.
Concerned Irish Citizens said it is to "take a backward seat" following a direct intervention by Mr Quinn.
The group has long campaigned for Mr Quinn's return to his manufacturing businesses on the Cavan/Fermanagh border.
Once the richest man in Ireland, he lost control of his assets after a disastrous investment in Anglo-Irish Bank left him bankrupt.
In October 2012 Concerned Irish Citizens (CIC) organised a rally in Ballyconnell which attracted thousands of people including Fermanagh priest Fr Brian D'Arcy and Tyrone GAA manager Mickey Harte.
However, in an email sent by Aoife Quinn on behalf of her father on Monday morning, Mr Quinn told group secretary Patricia Gilheany that posts on its Facebook page were "counter-productive" to his ongoing discussions with the US investor group that owns Quinn Industrial Holdings Limited.
He said: "While my family and I appreciate the continued support that you and all members of CIC have shown us over the past number of years, I would request that CIC immediately cease posting further material and close down the Facebook page."
In the same email Mr Quinn said discussions with the American group "continue to be positive".
In response, Concerned Irish Citizens confirmed it would accede to his request.
"We have reflected on his request over the past 24 hours and we have come to the conclusion that it is in everybody's best interest for us to respect the wishes of Sean Quinn on this matter," Mrs Gilheany said.
The page was removed from Facebook yesterday after operating for four years.
Speaking to the Irish News yesterday, Mrs Gilheany confirmed that the group would be taking a "backward seat".
"We kind of had become the story and we don't want that. The objective is some resolution will be achieved in the ongoing discussions between Sean Quinn and the investors. We have no plans to inform anyone apart from our own members."
The CIC page, which had over 2,000 likes and regularly attracted 10,000 views a day, has courted controversy in recent months.
In a series of posts on February 21, it voiced concerns over the running of Quinn Industrial Holdings Ltd, a company formed by supporters of Mr Quinn to run part of his former empire.
In recent months there has been an escalation in tensions along the Fermanagh/Cavan border, with threats made against senior management at Quinn Industrial Holdings and those at the former Quinn-owned Slieve Rushen windfarm.
East Cork Crane Hire, a contractor at the wind farm, pulled out of the Derrylin site last month over the threats.
