Relatives of the Bloody Sunday victims suffered a setback yesterday in their effort to stop British army witnesses being granted anonymity when they give evidence at the Saville inquiry.
The relatives wanted to be legally represented in the High Court in London next Tuesday when four soldiers will try to overturn Lord Saville's decision that they should be named.
But the inquiry refused to recommend that the costs incurred by the relatives should come out of the public purse.
They applied for a judicial review of the decision in the High Court in Belfast yesterday but their case was dismissed by Mr Justice Kerr. "The conclusion reached by the tribunal of inquiry cannot be condemned as being irrational," the judge said.