At the court on Tuesday, Mr Justice Michael Twomey said he was "happy" to strike out the five actions in civil cases that were expected to last up to nine weeks.

Mr Justice Twomey wished all parties the best for the future and adjourned the matter until next month.

Hours of talks have taken place, and on Wednesday, the court was due to hear evidence from former Web Summit director Daire Hickey.

Mr Justice Michael Twomey quoted French philosopher Voltaire when telling all three businessmen it is possibly years they will never get back.

Mr Hickey breached his fiduciary duties, including by working for other companies and earning significant amounts of money while he was a Web Summit director, Mr Shorthall said.

David Kelly was recorded in the 2021 conversation by Paddy Cosgrave, which was played to the High Court on Thursday

Web Summit co-founder and majority shareholder Paddy Cosgrave allegedly engaged in a campaign of "blackmail" against former director Daire Hickey in an attempt to secure his shares in the company, it has been claimed before the High Court

Mr Kelly and Mr Hickey are also suing Mr Cosgrave and Web Summit, alleging shareholder oppression and breaches of a profit-sharing agreement.

Evidence in five separate actions, brought variously by Paddy Cosgrave, Daire Hickey and David Kelly against one another, are due to be heard together over the course of a nine-week civil trial beginning on March 18th

The five cases – taken by Daire Hickey and David Kelly against Web Summit chief executive Paddy Cosgrave, and by Mr Cosgrave against Mr Kelly – are due to be heard together

The judge gave a provisional hearing date beginning March 18th

Mr Cosgrave quit his Web Summit role after he caused controversy with tweets concerning Hamas' attack on Israel on October 7th

Mr Justice Denis McDonald, expressed dismay that the document-sharing process in the actions was “dragging on for some time”.

Daire Hickey wants to argue controversial posts by Paddy Cosgrave occurred in disregard of minority shareholder interests

Web Summit chief executive Patrick Cosgrave has alleged one of his co-founders earned €328,000 for 'secret' consultancy work