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A women’s rights group in Northern Ireland have accused the taxpayer-funded Féile an Phobail festival of stonewalling them after cancelling their scheduled event.
Women’s Rights Network Northern Ireland (WRN NI) were due to speak at the West Belfast festival, which every year features a lineup of panel discussions. Now, they say they are being stonewalled.
Their event, ‘Respect, Rights, and Reality’ was to take place on August 4th, and was billed as a discussion exploring sex-based rights, single-sex spaces and fairness in women’s sports – issues which have come to the fore as transgender activism has led to clashes with women’s rights.
The organisation told Gript that they have asked for their panel to be reinstated due to an agreement “made in good faith” between themselves and the Belfast festival organisers.
They have said that since their event was cancelled on Tuesday, they have made repeated attempts to connect. However, they told us that phone calls and emails have gone unanswered, and all attempts to mediate have been to no avail.
“We are being stonewalled. We have asked our lawyers to write to Féile, and make it clear that our preference is to settle this matter by direct discussion rather than pursuing formal legal action,” the women’s group said on Thursday.
It came after they received an offer of help towards legal funding from J.K. Rowling.
WRN says it’s crucial that Féile an Phobail – a registered charity – engages with them, given that the Féile’s principal source of funding comes from grants from taxpayer bodies.
WRN said that their event was pulled following an online campaign on the platform Blue Sky calling on the festival to cancel.
One tweet posted on the platform reads: “I’m f*****g furious at the Feile for the door they have opened here, be it through ignorance or incompetence.”
Another tweet read: “The fight is coming to Belfast, and I have to say, we’re f*****g ready. We’re always ready. We had to be.”
Festival organisers stated they were unaware the event would promote campaigns against transgender community rights, which prompted them to pull the plug.
Féile an Phobail’s last financial review, seen by Gript, shows that it received £496,290 from Belfast City Council, £116,599 in 2024/25 from the Arts Council NI, a further £57,500 from the Northern Irish Tourist Board, and £57,294 from the Department of Foreign Affairs.
The report states: “Without this funding Féile an Phobail would not be able to continue to provide the annual core programme of activities and other related programmes.”
Well known UK advocacy group Sex Matters has joined calls for the event to be brought back, with the organisation releasing a letter on Thursday calling for the panel to be reinstated and for a public apology to be issued.
Ruth Paterson, a spokesperson for WRN NI told Gript that no clarity has been given to the group – insisting that Féile were given full disclosure about what the event related to.
“The Féile prides itself on featuring loads of panels for women. If you look at this year’s calendar, there are so many female panels on. The key thing to remember, of course, is that the fight for women’s rights pre-dates trans rights. So what is it that has now changed?” asked Ms Paterson.
“Of course, we know there are going to be many women at the festival. Does every woman have to say that ‘trans women are women’ to have access to their events? It would be good to know Féile an Phobail’s view on people’s individual freedom of speech and expression when it comes to women’s rights. Women have rights – and the fact that they can’t even be discussed at the minute is, in my view, depriving women of their rights. Intellectually, it’s very hard to understand,” she said.
She continued: “Féile an Phobail, an organisation that receives huge taxpayer funding, didn’t even come back and ask WRN any questions. They did not clarify. They were, for the record, given full disclosure in the application about our organisation, what we were going to talk about, and links to some of the potential presenters at that time.
“There was no hiding who we were. It was very well known from the application. We had links on our website to speakers. We made it clear that we were women’s rights and that this was going to be a sex-based rights discussion. We were really clear about what the talk was about.
WRN says they are not necessarily of the belief that Féile an Phobail objected to their attendance at the event – stating that they were, however, put under “a lot of pressure” to cancel.
“Last week, we got wind that activists had started an online campaign on Blue Sky, saying they were going to write to the director of the Féile, Kevin Gamble. The pressure intensified over a couple of days, and then the public statement was released. We were told via email several minutes before the statement went out.”
“Féile an Phobail is a charity registered in Northern Ireland whose objects are: “to promote the benefit of the inhabitants of West Belfast and its environs (hereinafter described as “the area of benefit”) without distinction of age, sex, race, political, religious or other opinion, by associating the statutory authorities, voluntary organisations and inhabitants in a common effort to advance education and to provide facilities in the interests of social welfare for recreation or other leisure-time occupation, with the object of improving the conditions of life for the said inhabitants,” said Ms Tallion on behalf of the Women’s Rights Network.
‘COWED TO THE MOB’
“It’s clear that Féile an Phobail has cowed to the mob. Yet, they have not spoken to anyone. As William Crawley said on BBC Radio Ulster on Wednesday, the BBC had tried to contact them for comment but they will not speak to the press. Why is that?
“The other questions I would have would be put to the Arts Council of Northern Ireland and Belfast City Council. There is a public sector equality duty to ensure equal treatment among particular groups, which would include women, and those with sex-realist beliefs. Women like ourselves are often completely absent from this debate, and feel they are being silenced.
“My question stemming from that would be whether they are in breach of their letters of funding given to them by these public bodies? Legally, that’s a big question.”
WRN said it advised in its application that it was a “cross-community, non-partisan panel bringing together voices from Ireland, North and South, and Europe.”
Its application further advised: “Drawing on experience in advocacy, sport and policy, the discussion will explore women’s rights, law and legislative clarity, including sex-based rights, single-sex spaces and fairness in women’s sport. Open, respectful debate is welcome.”
Ms Paterson said that the proposal provided further information about the intended substance and format of the panel.
“It stated that the discussion would address women’s rights and sex-based rights across different legal and policy contexts, including fairness and safeguarding in women’s sports, prisons and service provision. We included links to our website,” she added.
This evening, WRN NI added: “Whilst we are reluctant to tae this to the High Court, Féile have left us in the position where this may be our only option. Should our event not be reinstated, we have instructed our legal team to issue proceedings in the High Court tomorrow seeking an injunction hearing Monday morning regarding their specific performance of contract.”
Féile an Phobail has been contacted for comment, but has not yet responded.
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