A call to take up the cause of two Scots Guardsmen convicted of killing a Catholic in Ulster was rejected yesterday by the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland.

The appeal to back the campaign to free Mark Wright and James Fisher came shortly after the assembly was addressed by the Rt Rev Samuel Hutchinson, the Moderator of the Presbyterian Church in Ireland.

Mr David Bowser, of Auchlyne, called on the assembly to ask the Government to review the soldiers' cases ''with a view to their early release''.

Mr Bowser said the Kirk should act in the light of wide concern expressed in recent months and should take into account ''the way in which convicted terrorists are being given preferential treatment''.

Mr Robert Kernohan, a former editor of the Kirk's magazine Life and Work, said many of those serving well-justified prison sentences were ''as much the casualties of the Troubles as their victims''.

He said that while Wright and Fisher had undoubtedly made mistakes, they too were casualties.

The Very Rev James Harkness, a former chaplain general to the Army, backed the campaign supporting the two soldiers, although he stressed he was not attacking the judicial system. ''All we are asking is that the committee urges Her Majesty's Government to ensure that these two young men are accorded fair and equitable treatment under law.''

However, the Rev Ainsley Walton, of the University of Aberdeen, said the assembly should beware such campaigns at such a delicate time.

''We should respect the feelings of others, particularly in the Irish Catholic community,'' he said.

Ms Alison Elliott, convener of the church and nation committee, also opposed the motion, saying the committee did not generally take up individual cases.

She said it would be ''extremely unhelpful'' if the assembly took up such a stance two days before the referendum on the peace proposals in Ireland.

''If this is the one decision on Northern Ireland which this General assembly passes, the signals which are sent out will be unhelpful''.

In a card vote, 323 delegates voted against the call for the Government to review the cases, while 249 voted for.

The release of convicted paramilitary prisoners may have jeopardised the yes vote's chance of success, according to Dr Hutchinson.

He said of the releases: ''It made me feel that someone, somewhere miscalculated.

''They thought they were helping the peace process by letting these people out, but in effect it may be the opposite. I'm thinking of the RUC widow walking down the street, meeting the man who shot her husband, and he gives her a look of triumph. How does she feel when she's been asked to vote yes?''

Dr Hutchinson said the Presbyterian Church was not telling its members how to vote. ''The church simply can't get into that position - we're saying to people: here are things to think seriously about before you exercise your own right and make up your own mind.''

Tony Blair last night made his plea to voters to back the Good Friday agreement against the backdrop of a handwritten poster setting out his pledges to the people of Northern Ireland.

The poster is to displayed in the province ahead of the referendum.

It reads: ''My pledge to the people of Northern Ireland.

''No change in the status of Northern Ireland without the express consent of the people of Northern Ireland.

''Power to take decisions returned to a Northern Ireland Assembly, with accountable

North-South co-operation. ''Fairness and equality guaranteed for all.

''Those who use or threaten violence excluded from the government of Northern Ireland.

''Prisoners kept in unless violence is given up for good.

''Whatever the referendum result, as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, I will continue to work for stability and prosperity for all the people of Northern Ireland - Tony Blair.''

A legal bid to prevent the referendum going ahead in the Irish Republic failed yesterday in the Dublin High Court.

A case alleging that the nationwide poll infringed the written Irish constitution was dismissed.

Later, the man who launched the courtroom challenge, university lecturer Denis Riordan, said he would not appeal to the Irish Supreme Court, the country's ultimate legal authority.

Mr Justice Peter Kelly ruled against Mr Riordan on the grounds of the merits of his case, and the delay in bringing the matter to the courts. The judge also ordered Mr Riordan to pay the costs of the day-long proceedings, estimated at up to #IR10,000.

If Mr Riordan had succeeded in his action, the referendum in the south could have faced a delay at least.

That, in turn, would have raised questions over the poll in Northern Ireland as both the British and Irish governments had orchestrated arrangements to ensure that voting went ahead on both sides of the Ulster border on the same day.

Mr Riordan claimed that the referendum's proposed amendment to the written Irish constitutional claim on Northern Ireland territory did not comply with procedures stipulated by the same constitution.

He also maintained that the government had acted in excess of its powers in agreeing to that provision of the Northern Ireland agreement relating to the release of jailed terrorist prisoners. Mr Riordan based his case on a delay in implementing the constitutional changes by the Irish government, necessitated by the need to ensure that the peace agreement is first accepted on both sides of the Irish border.

Irish premier Bertie Ahern, named as one of the respondents in the High Court action, said yesterday: ''The changes that we are making in our constitution will come into effect when the necessary legal changes and the agreement, and the bodies established under it, are ready to come into effect.

''This represents an important safeguard against any unwillingness on the part of others to implement the agreement.''

Mr Riordan, 51, a lecturer in marine communications at Limerick Institute of Technology, was told by the judge that he was ''someone of no small experience in litigation of this kind''.

An academic with no legal training, Mr Riordan represented himself against senior counsel members of the Irish bar, appearing for Mr Ahern, the Irish government and other state officials and institutions. He has taken other proceedings on constitutional grounds, and is currently appealing a case to the Irish Supreme Court.

A letter bomb was received by an Irish tourist office yesterday for the second day in succession.

The latest device was delivered in the mail to the tourist base at Sligo, in the West of Ireland. Irish Army experts were called in and dealt with the device in a controlled explosion.

Security spokesmen said it was similar to a package sent on Wednesday to the tourism headquarters in Dublin.

That device was also dealt with by an Army bomb disposal unit.

The Dublin incident prompted Irish Tourism Minister Dr Jim McDaid to put all tourist headquarters internationally on alert for possible attacks.