The court also ruled that the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission did not meet the legal requirements to be formally joined as an amicus curiae or friend to the court in the proceedings

The former Sinn Féin councillor and Gerry ‘The Monk’ Hutch are both charged with the murder of David Byrne at the Regency Hotel

David Byrne was shot dead at a boxing weigh-in in the Regency Hotel after five men, three disguised as armed gardaí, stormed the building

Mr Dowdall launched a High Court challenge earlier this year against the jurisdiction of the non-jury Special Criminal Court SCC to hear his trial