Four female lecturers, who claim they were discriminated against on gender grounds, are being promoted as part of a settlement with NUI Galway which is understood to run to hundreds of thousands of euro.

The lecturers, who initiated a High Court action against the university, had argued that they met the qualifications required for senior lectureship posts but were passed over in a promotion round in 2009.

In a statement - NUIG says an amicable agreement has been reached with Dr Sylvie Lannegrand, Dr Róisín Healy, Dr Margaret Hodgins, and Dr Adrienne Gorman, and each of them have now been promoted to Senior Lecturer positions.