Psychologist and broadcaster Ms Maureen Gaffney has reached a settlement with Trinity College after her employment with the university ceased in May following a dispute with the college authorities.
Ms Gaffney worked at Trinity for the past decade, originally as a research associate and later as a part-time senior lecturer in the department of psychology.
After her employment ceased, she filed a claim with the Employment Appeals Tribunal. Yesterday at the EAT in Dublin her case was listed for hearing, but after almost two hours of negotiations her legal representatives reached a settlement with the university of approximately £25,000, including costs.
Ms Gaffney, who is chairwoman of the National and Economic and Social Forum, declined to comment on the circumstances of the case when contacted by The Irish Times yesterday.
Ms Gaffney joined Trinity on secondment from the Eastern Health Board where she worked for 20 years. Her appearances on radio, particularly the Gay Byrne Show, where she discussed listeners' family and personal problems, made her a household name.
She has been a regular contributor to The Irish Times.
The two sides to the settlement signed a confidentiality clause and a spokesman for Trinity said this precluded the university from commenting further.