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The evidence of a former Sinn Féin councillor can be heard in the Gerard Hutch murder trial, an Irish court has ruled.

Mr Hutch is charged with the murder of David Byrne, 33, at a Dublin hotel in 2016.

Jonathan Dowdall was due to stand trial for the same offence but last month he pleaded guilty to the lesser offence of facilitating the murder.

The former councillor is serving a four-year sentence for the offence.

Mr Byrne was shot dead during a boxing weigh-in at the Regency Airport Hotel in Dublin in February 2016.

Dowdall was sentenced after admitting to facilitating a murder by renting a hotel room for the killers.

Lawyers for Mr Hutch, 59, had argued at the Special Criminal Court in Dublin that Dowdall's willingness to give evidence against their client was a quid pro quo for having the murder charges dropped.

The presiding judge in the three judge non-jury court, Ms Justice Tara Burns, rejected that argument.

Dowdall has agreed to take part in the Irish witness protection programme in order to give evidence at the trial.

During the voir-dire - trial within a trial - on the admissibility of Dowdall's evidence, the judge had asked the prosecution about the standing of Dowdall's application to join the state's witness protection programme.

The lawyer for the prosecution indicated that he was not able to answer.

Ms Burns said it was "quite astonishing" that this matter had not yet been dealt with even though the relevant authorities knew there was an ongoing court case.

She said she had hoped there would be an answer on the issue on Thursday and that Dowdall could go into the witness box on Monday.

"It was just not good enough," she said.

She indicated that she expected an answer on Friday.