O'Callaghan Hotels has been ordered to pay over €315,000 to a former employee after the Equality Tribunal ruled she was discriminated against and victimised by her employer while pregnant.

A pregnant woman was effectively sacked while on maternity leave by one of the country’s major hotel groups, having previously been warned that one of her bosses was close to former taoiseach Brian Cowen.

PROPERTY developer Noel O’Callaghan is planning a second hotel in the United States.