A veteran republican has been given a date for his bid to overturn a conviction for assisting in Gerry Adams’ attempt to escape from prison.
Ivor Bell’s legal challenge was listed for hearing at the Court of Appeal in Belfast in May.
Last year, Mr Adams, the former Sinn Fein President, had his historic convictions for trying to escape from the Maze quashed.
He was interned without trial at the jail, then known as the Long Kesh Internment Camp, under an interim custody order (ICO) during the 1970s.
The Supreme Court quashed his convictions because the ICO was not authorised by the Northern Ireland Secretary at the time, Willie Whitelaw.
The chilling rise of IRA TikTok | The Spectator spectator.co.uk - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from spectator.co.uk Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Lawyers for Ivor Bell are basing their appeal on a ruling that Mr Adams detention was unlawful.
In May last year, the UK s highest court quashed the former Sinn Fein President s convictions for trying to escape from the Maze Prison during the 1970s.
He had been interned without trial at the jail - then known as the Long Kesh Internment Camp - under an interim custody order (ICO).
But Supreme Court justices quashed Mr Adams convictions because the ICO was not personally authorised by the Northern Ireland Secretary at the time, Willie Whitelaw.
Now Mr Bell, 84, is mounting a legal attempt to overturn a verdict that he was guilty of aiding in the escape bid.