The High Court has dismissed a legal challenge to the appointment of the incoming Garda Commissioner.
Victims' campaigner Ciarán MacAirt had applied for a judicial review of the decision to appoint former PSNI Deputy Chief Constable Drew Harris to the position.
Yesterday, lawyers for Mr MacAirt claimed the appointment represents a threat to Ireland’s national security.
Council for the State meanwhile, argued that his claim amounts to a personal opinion rather than grounds for a challenge.
This afternoon, Judge Denis McDonald ruled that Mr MacAirt had not reached the legal threshold required for the challenge to go before a full hearing of the High Court.
Mr MacAirt lost his grandmother in the 1971 bombing of McGurk's Bar in Belfast.
He has accused Mr Harris - who held the role of head of the PSNI Historical Enquiries Team - of preventing victim’s families from getting to the truth.
He has called for a new inquiry into the bombing amid claims that British security forces helped the UVF carry out the atrocity.
Following the verdict this afternoon, Mr MacAirt gave his reaction outside court.
BREAKING:High Court dismisses legal challenge against appointment of new #garda Commissioner Drew Harris. The action was taken by Belfast man @ciaranmacairt whose grandmother was killed in the McGurk bombing of 1971. He gave his reaction outside court pic.twitter.com/UEw713Kzf0
— Paul Quinn (@PaulQuinnNews) August 22, 2018
Mr Harris was announced as the first outsider to take the top Garda job back in June.
The appointment came following an 'international selection process' by the Public Appointments Service, on behalf of the Policing Authority.
Reporting from Paul Quinn ...
