Legal steps have been taken to try and force the government to revisit claims that 14 men were tortured by the British authorities in Northern Ireland in the 1970s.

The remaining survivors of the so-called 'hooded men' want Ireland to apply to the European Court of Human Rights to revise its landmark 1978 judgment which found that while the men were subjected to inhuman and degrading treatment, they were not tortured.

The interrogation techniques used included hooding, white noise and sensory deprivation.

One of the survivors Francis McGuigan said he still feels the psychological effects:

“To this day I cannot stand anything across my mouth and nose. If anything goes across my mouth and nose I’d scream, even in bed at night where I’d turn like that and I’d just up if the mouth and nose were covered.

“I lost the best part of two stone in weight in 9 days, and it wasn’t that I was a heavyweight or anything going in to it,” he said.

The Irish government is being urged to apply to the Strasbourg court to reopen the case against the UK in light of new evidence, and before a deadline of next Thursday.

The High Court has agreed to hear the men's case on Monday afternoon aimed at forcing the State's hand.