Victims’ campaigner Raymond McCord has been granted leave by the High Court in Belfast for a judicial review of the criteria under which a border poll would be held in Northern Ireland.

Sir Paul Girvan ruled that Mr McCord has established an arguable case that the current discretionary arrangements are unlawful.

He has already been granted leave by the High Court in Dublin to take similar proceedings against the Irish State, Taoiseach, Minister for Foreign Affairs and Attorney General.

Ciaran O’Hare of McIvor Farrell, representing Mr McCord, told The Irish News: “At this juncture, it appears that the decision whether or not to hold a poll is at the whim of one person and the public have no insight whatsoever into the decision making process.

“My client is looking forward to the full hearing of his case, which will be one of the most important constitutional cases that have ever come before the court.”