The High Court in the UK has upheld a decision by the coroner in the Birmingham Pub bombings inquests not to include the issue of who carried out the bombings as part of his inquiry.
21 people died and almost 200 were injured when two IRA bombs exploded in two Birmingham pubs in November 1974.
Six Irish men were subsequently wrongly convicted of the bombings and served 16 years in prison. Their convictions were quashed in 1991.
Some of the families of those killed in the atrocity campaigned to have the inquests re-opened in the hope that it would bring the real perpetrators to justice.
A spokesperson for the Coroner Sir Peter Thornton QC told RTÉ News: "The Coroner and his team note today's Court of Appeal judgement. The main focus for the Coroner and his team is to make sure that the Inquests can now take place as soon as possible and that all those Interested Persons who have been waiting for the Inquests can work towards the next hearing dates."
In 2015, it was ruled that fresh inquests should resume, but there has been an ongoing disagreement about whether or not the inquests should examine the issue of who was responsible for the attacks.
Families of some of those killed want 'the perpetrators issue' included while the Coroner does not.
Earlier this year the coroner argued in the Court of Appeal in London that a divisional court had been wrong to quash his decision not to include the issue of who bombed Birmingham.
In a ruling handed down three judges of that Court of Appeal ruled that the Coroner was correct to decide to exclude the perpetrators issue from his coronial inquiry.
A statement from Belfast based KRW Law, which represents the families of some of those killed, said they were disappointed by the decision and that they would now consider the judgement in detail before deciding whether or not to appeal the ruling.
The statement said that the families note that the coroner has stressed that the scope of the inquest will be kept under review.
