The son of bankrupt businessman Seán Quinn has said his father was surprised and disappointed that the High Court had sent him to prison yesterday for contempt of court.
Members of the Quinn family have been visiting Quinn Snr in the Training Unit of Mountjoy Prison today, which is away from the main section of the jail.
He spent the first night of his nine week contempt sentence there last night.
Speaking after his visit, Seán Quinn Jnr protested his father's innocence and described his imprisonment as an injustice, but said he was coping well with it.
Mr Quinn Jnr also said that his father’s fellow inmates had been supportive towards him.
The sentence is a result of the legal battle between the Quinn family and the Irish Bank Resolution Corporation, formerly Anglo Irish Bank. It runs until 4 January.
Yesterday High Court judge Ms Justice Elizabeth Dunne said she could not ignore the extent and degree of contempt by Quinn Snr and that his behaviour in sanctioning an asset-stripping scheme fell into the category of serious misconduct.
Seán Quinn tired and emotional
Seán Quinn Snr is "tired", "emotional" and "angry" following his jailing yesterday for contempt of court, according to his Parish Priest.
Father Gerry Comiskey, of Drumlane Parish in Cavan, visited Mr Quinn in prison last night.
He said the journey from Dublin's Four Courts to Mountjoy had been "very diminishing" for the former businessman and that the "whole experience" had left him "physically exhausted".
Father Comiskey added that he had "no doubt" Quinn Snr would draw on his "inner strength" to help him through the next nine weeks.
He said the "first few days" would be the most difficult and that he planned to visit again in the near future.
He said the Quinn family had, in recent times, suffered "trauma of unprecedented proportions".
As Quinn Snr's Parish Priest, Father Comiskey said he had a pastoral responsibility but added that he also had a "huge personal regard" for Sean Snr and for the contribution he and his family had made to the area over the years.
There is "widespread disbelief" in the Cavan and Fermanagh area over the jailing and also "intense" according to the priest.
He said local people were "trying to come to terms" with what had happened.
