The Irish News, the main nationalist morning newspaper, blanked out some surnames for legal reasons but claimed that the identities of the paratroopers were widely known in Derry, where Bloody Sunday occurred in January 1972.

"They make a mockery of yesterday's [Thursday's] High Court ruling granting the men anonymity," it stated in the newspaper's front-page report.

The High Court in London had voted 2:1 against a ruling by the Inquiry Chairman, Lord Saville, denying the soldiers' immunity for giving testimony in the Inquiry which commences in September.

Lawyers for the soldiers and the Ministry of Defence had argued that the mens' lives would be at risk if they did not have anonymity.

'Meaningless campaign'

Victims of Bloody Sunday remembered on a Londonderry memorial

The families of those killed on Bloody Sunday have consistently said that none of the Bloody Sunday soldiers was ever targeted for attack.

Two of the officers who were on the scene have always allowed their names to be made public, the commanding officer, retired Lieutenant Colonel Derek Wilford and the then captain, now General Sir Michael Jackson.

The Belfast newspaper pointed out that the anonymity campaign was pointless, as there were reports in British army magazines and through other sources in which the soldiers had been named.

"Much of the indignation over the names which has been expressed by the Daily Telegraph, the Daily Mail and various retired officers is therefore largely meaningless," it remarked in its editorial.

The paper urged the Saville Inquiry to appeal the High Court decision.