The former managing director of a Dublin technology firm backed by financier Dermot Desmond has agreed to pay €350,000 to his former employer after acknowledging he had breached a non-compete clause.

The firm eSpatial Solutions, which provides online maps to customers, brought a legal action against Liam McGeown, a founder of the company, last year, three years after his departure from the firm.

On leaving the company, Mr McGeown signed an agreement, dated July 17th, 2003, not to compete with the firm for a period of time. He had also received a payment from the company at the time of his departure.

The case had been set to run for six days but Mrs Justice Mary Finlay Geoghegan stuck out the action yesterday after she was told that both sides had reached a settlement.

Yesterday, Denis McDonald SC, for Mr McGeown, read to the court a statement that had been agreed between the parties. He said his client acknowledged he had breached the restrictive covenants in the contract signed with eSpatial in July 2003.

Mr McDonald said Mr McGeown had agreed to make a payment to eSpatial in full and final settlement of the proceedings, including legal costs. The amount was not revealed in court. However, it is understood he has agreed to pay €350,000 to the company he founded in 1997.

The firm eSpatial had been seeking damages of €8 million against Mr McGeown. Following his departure from eSpatial, Mr McGeown had established a US company called Acquis.

Acquis recently won a contract from the US Census Bureau. It had been claimed by eSpatial that Mr McGeown's company should not have been awarded that contract.

Mr McGeown denied the claims and had alleged he had been forced out of eSpatial.