A PROTRACTED dispute between printers Webprint Concepts Limited and the Thomas Crosbie Newspaper publishing chain, over a 15-year printing agreement worth some €45 million, has been settled, the High Court has been told.

Webprint, Mahon Retail Park, Mahon, Co Cork, had claimed it was owed €6.1 million from Thomas Crosbie Printers under its printing agreement, while Crosbie counterclaimed for specific performance of the contract or alternatively an amendment of the contract to reflect what it contended was the “true” original intention of the parties.

Crosbie also claimed it was owed some €1 million by Webprint concerning the provision of newsprint and denied breach of contract.

The case opened this week and was scheduled to last a number of weeks. However, on its fourth day yesterday, Paul Gardiner SC, for Webprint, told Mr Justice John MacMenamin that the case was settled and the proceedings and counterclaim could be struck out with no order on costs. The judge said the parties had been well-advised to resolve the issue.

The dispute arose from a master printing agreement of April 22nd, 2005, between Thomas Crosbie printers and Webprint and the operation of that agreement. Mediation ended unsuccessfully in December 2007.

Among the issues between the parties were whether Webprint was entitled to additional revenues from the printing of supplements and inserts and for the provision of trimming services, under which the borders of newspapers are cut.

Crosbie claimed Webprint had breached a contractual obligation to keep newsprint wastage below 7 per cent, resulting in alleged additional costs to Examiner Publications. At the outset of the case, Mr Gardiner said the Thomas Crosbie printers group was in reality seeking to change the wording of the agreement between the sides by way of “rectification”.

Eoin McCullough SC, for Crosbie, argued that Webprint had tried to change the way it imposed charges on his client in breach of an agreement between the parties.

Webprint had decided to radically interpret the contract to put pressure on the newspaper group to pay a separate charge for printing supplements, he contended.