Nine junior barristers are angry over a move to cut their fees for appearing at the Bloody Sunday Inquiry, due to begin next month, the High Court in Belfast heard. They are challenging a decision by Lord Saville, the inquiry chairman, to pay them half what senior counsel will earn - instead of the normal two-thirds.
At the application for leave to proceed, Mr Francis O'Reilly, for the nine, said there were two reasons for the reduction - junior counsel in England were paid 50 per cent and the paymasters in the Northern Ireland Office said: "This money is coming from the public purse and we have to keep down the costs."
Mr Bernard McCloskey QC, for the inquiry, said regard had been paid to custom and practice regarding fees paid in Northern Ireland.
The application was adjourned for a week to consider bringing in the NIO.