The Special Criminal Court has decided to allow the entire recorded conversation between Gerry Hutch and Jonathan Dowdall into evidence.

More than eight hours of the conversation was recorded while the pair were in the North and the court was asked to rule on whether it should be heard in Mr Hutch’s trial for the murder of David Byrne at the Regency Hotel.

This afternoon, the judges ruled that the entire conversation should be admitted.

Essentially, they agreed that the recorded conversation was unlawfully obtained, but decided the officers of the Garda National Surveillance Unit (GNSU) did not know that at the time and acted in “good faith”.

Legal arguments over the matter have been ongoing since Tuesday.

Gerry Hutch is on trial for the murder of David Byrne, who was shot dead at the Regency Hotel in Dublin in 2016.