Mr John Gilligan has failed to stay proceedings on English drug charges against him following a hearing at Woolwich Crown Court in London yesterday.
He has spent more than two years in Belmarsh high-security prison since his arrest at Heathrow Airport in 1996. He argued he was being held in custody without trial, which breached his rights, while Irish extradition proceedings continue.
The English charges relate to alleged drug-trafficking and money-laundering. The 16 Irish warrants include charges of the murder of Veronica Guerin.
Mr James Lewis, for Mr Gilligan, said that according to the European Convention on Human Rights, his client was entitled to be tried within a reasonable time or to release pending trial.
Mr Shane Collery, for the prosecution, told the court a divisional court had upheld the decision to subordinate the English charges to the Irish warrants.
Refusing Mr Gilligan's application, Mr Justice James Rucker said the time to rule on an abuse of process was at trial, "if it ever happens."