Dublin-based Terenure, a subsidiary of Independent News & Media (INM), brought the claim against the publishers of the weekly journal, following the termination of a print contract with four years to run. But after a four-day hearing last month in the Irish High Court, an out of court settlement was agreed.

The action arose from the decision by the journal's publisher, Agricultural Trust, to switch printing to a plant owned by The Irish Times, despite having a 10-year contract with Terenure. It did so, the publisher's counsel told the court, because it was unhappy with the quality of the printing. Despite complaints, the problems had persisted, it said.

Lawyers for Terenure, which closed last year, disputed this and said all problems had been resolved, but during this period, they told the court, the publisher had been conducting "secret negotiations" with The Irish Times. Terenure's counsel claimed the complaints were contrived and part of a strategy to break the contract.

The contract was terminated in 2004 and Terenure had sought damages to cover the remaining four years. While the terms of the settlement were not announced in court, parties close to the dispute put the amount to be paid at 1.4m.

Media group INM, owner of The Independent and The Belfast Telegraph, closed Terenure last July, resulting in 160 redundancies, citing the loss of a number of major contracts.

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