A LEGAL ROW is brewing in Northern Ireland over the cancellation of an event at Féile an Phobail, a community arts festival in west Belfast.

Last week, the organisers of the festival announced they were pulling an event featuring a gender critical group known as the Women’s Rights Network Northern Ireland (WRN NI).

The cancellation has led to criticism, including from Harry Potter author JK Rowling, and the group has now initiated legal proceedings against the festival.

What is the Women’s Rights Network?

The Women’s Rights Network is a registered company that describes itself as a group to promote “the human rights of women and girls” that is committed to “free speech and to putting the sex based needs of women and girls first”.

The limited company was incorporated in 2022 and is based in the town of Halifax in the north of England. A map on its website suggests it has dozens of branches across the United Kingdom, including around 15 in Northern Ireland.

The ‘about’ section on its website contains various phrases and terminology associated with anti-trans groups and viewpoints.

It describes its members as “adult human females”, an exclusionary term used by the gender critical movement to refer to cis women.

The group also refers to “biological sex” – a term that implicitly rejects gender as a social construct – and says that the “reality of biology” that sex is “determined at conception” and defined as being “binary, female and male”.

There is no separate company under this name set up in Northern Ireland.

A specific Women’s Rights Network Northern Ireland group appears on social media, including a Facebook page that has not posted since 2022 and a more active page on X.com.

Three members of the Northern Ireland group also appeared at a Stormont Committee in February 2025 as part of a wider inquiry into gaps in equality legislation in the region.

What event was due to be held at Féile an Phobail?

WRN NI were due to host the event at Féile an Phobail, which is held in Belfast annually and billed as Ireland’s largest community arts festival.

This year’s festival features a wide range of events from different types of groups, including community radio stations, historians, journalists and musicians.

Women’s Rights Network said that its event, originally due to take place in St Mary’s University College on the morning of 4 August, would feature contributors from around Ireland and Europe to “discuss the reality of women’s rights”. 

The festival programme said the event would explore “women’s rights, law and legislative clarity”, including “sex-based rights, single-sex spaces and fairness in women’s sport”.

It did not list any speakers, but a poster for the event featured the logos of The Countess, Athena Forum, Sex Matters, and Gaels for Fair Play

The Countess is an Irish-based anti-trans group founded by barrister Laoise de Brún that is critical of things like gender self-identification, gender-neutral toilets in schools, and the participation of trans women in female sport.

Sex Matters is a UK-based advocacy group founded in 2021 by Maya Forstater, a researcher who says she lost her job for claiming that people cannot change their biological sex.

Athena Forum is a European think tank which says it works to “safeguard and advance sex-based rights” and promotes critical debate on issues around gender identity.

Gaels for Fair Play is a group which campaigns against the inclusion of trans women in ladies’ football and camogie.

Why was the event cancelled?

In a statement last Tuesday, Féile an Phobail said it “was unaware from the initial submission that this event would promote campaigns against rights for the transgender community”.

Statement from Féile an Phobail pic.twitter.com/mBvUqWGoDm

— Féile an Phobail (@FeileBelfast) July 21, 2026

It added that it “takes pride in standing up for those who are marginalised and attacked” and that it “fully supports the rights of the transgender community to be treated with equality and respect”.

In its initial response, WRN NI said it was “shocked and deeply disappointed” by the decision.

The group said its event was to be a discussion on women’s sex-based rights, which was made clear to Féile when our application was submitted.

“No organisation that values free speech should allow intimidation to determine which voices are heard,” WRN NI said.

“Women advocating for their sex-based rights are not campaigning against the rights of others. We reject any attempt to misrepresent either our organisation or the purpose of this event.”

What has happened since?

There was a huge online backlash among anti-trans campaigners after Féile announced it was cancelling the event.

After WRN NI’s announcement that the event had been pulled, JK Rowling – who has  built up a huge online following as a prominent anti-trans campaigner in the UK – replied to the group’s post on X to say that she would “help with legal costs”.

The group then announced on Friday that it was taking legal action against the festival.

It also said that the legal proceedings would be withdrawn “at any time should Féile decide to reinstate the event”.

Féile had offered to meet with WRN NI in Belfast city centre over the issue on Friday, but subsequently said there were “no resolutions to the issues” after the meeting.

The festival also said its representatives at the meeting were “unaware” of the decision to take legal action, and that its “decision to withdraw this event stands”.

The controversy has also become political.

Stormont’s communities minister and DUP MLA Gordon Lyons told BBC Radio Ulster on Friday that he would consider withdrawing money from the festival in “future years” over the issue.

“I think we do need to have a debate and a discussion about the protection of women’s rights and same-sex spaces and how you can protect women and girls,” he added.

“I don’t understand why there is this lobby against having this conversation.”

When asked if funding could be withdrawn immediately, Lyons remarked: “Possibly in future years… this isn’t about targeting anybody, but it’s about adhering to the rules.”

Contains reporting by Diarmuid Pepper.