FFS Friday: The Women’s Rights Network of Northern Ireland

August 7, 2026

FFS (Female Free Speech) Friday honors women and girls who are speaking out about the harms that “gender identity” poses to women and girls as a sex class. Thanks so much to Amy Sousa (@KnownHeretic on X) for a lovely post appreciating the series.

FFS Friday posts are free and shareable. A paid subscription gets you regular access to much more content and the ability to comment and engage in conversation with other thoughtful people.

Today’s FFS Friday celebrates the Women’s Rights Network of Northern Ireland (@ni_wrn), who have stood up in the face of cancellation by Féile an Phobail.

We applied to Féile in good faith because we believe women's voices and discussions about women's sex-based rights belong in our community festivals. We continue to believe that. Any future engagement with Féile will be approached constructively, respectfully and in the same good faith.

Féile an Phobail is a community arts festival in Northern Ireland. On its website, it says:

Féile an Phobail is Ireland’s Biggest Community Arts Festival. Féile provides a programme of inclusive arts, cultural and community-based activities throughout the year, with its flagship festival, the August Féile being the highlight of Ireland’s festival calendar. Join us this year from 25 July to 09 August as we welcome over 120,000 visitors to our 500+ events. Tá fáilte romhaibh, a chairde!

The Women’s Rights Network of Northern Ireland is part of the broader Women’s Rights Network, a network of women from across the globe with their main presence in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland who promote the human rights of women and girls.

Their website clarifies:

In these articles, ‘human rights’ means the human rights set out in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and subsequent United Nations conventions and declarations, and ‘women’ and ‘girls’ mean women and girls by virtue of biological sex. WRN shall, in the interests of advancing its purposes for the benefit of women and girls, restrict membership benefits it provides to women and girls only.

WRN NI applied to host a panel discussion titled “Respect, Rights and Reality - Women’s Voices from Ireland and Europe” during the Féile festival this year. Their application was approved and the panel discussion was scheduled to take place on August 4.

The panel was to include representatives from Women’s Rights Network Northern Ireland, Gaels for Fair Play, The Countess, Sex Matters and Athena Forum, bringing together some of the leading voices advocating for women’s sex-based rights across the UK, Ireland and Europe. It was to explore the issues affecting women and girls and the work being undertaken to protect their sex-based rights. However, in late July, an online campaign from anti-women activists was waged that included abuse, threats of violence, and demands that Féile cancel the event.

WRN NI were abruptly notified via email that the event had been pulled from the festival’s program. Three minutes later, Féile an Phobail announced via social media that they were pulling the event, and their announcement stated that they were “unaware from the initial submission that [the] event would promote campaigns against rights for the transgender community.”

WRN NI have since clarified that their application clearly stated that the discussion would “reflect on developments more than a year on from the For Women Scotland Supreme Court ruling and consider implications for the North of Ireland’s distinct legal framework, including questions of fairness and safeguarding in women’s sport, prisons and service provision.”

WRN NI took legal action which centered on the contract they had with Féile, and a hearing was scheduled for last Wednesday, July 29. The two groups eventually came to an agreement and the legal action was withdrawn. WRN NI agreed that it would hold its panel in another venue.

WRN NI said:

The agreement was not a vindication of Feile’s decision. The proceedings concluded by agreement before the High Court heard the case or made any determination on the merits. There was no judgment that Féile’s cancellation was lawful, justified or correct, and there was no judgment in favour of WRN NI.

Neither side won or lost in court because the case was not determined.

Under the agreement, neither party will pursue the other for legal costs, and Féile has agreed to meet with WRN NI regarding potential participation in future events.

We applied to Féile in good faith because we believe women’s voices and discussions about women’s sex-based rights belong in our community festivals. We continue to believe that. Any future engagement with Féile will be approached constructively, respectfully and in the same good faith.

WRN NI reorganized the event for a hotel in Belfast and sold out of tickets within days. The event featured on BBC News the same evening.

Left to right: Marianne Driessen, Danielle Loughrey, Fiona McAnena, Sorcha nic Lochlainn and Nora Calder

WRN NI have no intention of being silenced or of going away.

To the women of WRN NI: THANK YOU. Thank you for standing in solidarity with women and girls in Northern Ireland, and everywhere. Thank you for refusing to be silenced and for continuing to speak out about women’s sex-based rights. Today’s FFS Friday is for you.