{"id":571654,"date":"2026-07-28T06:47:17","date_gmt":"2026-07-28T06:47:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/571654\/"},"modified":"2026-07-28T06:47:17","modified_gmt":"2026-07-28T06:47:17","slug":"womens-rights-network-claims-breach-of-contract-in-feile-event-cancellation-the-irish-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/571654\/","title":{"rendered":"Women\u2019s Rights Network claims \u2018breach of contract\u2019 in F\u00e9ile event cancellation \u2013 The Irish News"},"content":{"rendered":"

Legal representatives for a women\u2019s rights group have argued that the cancellation of an event it had organised at F\u00e9ile an Phobail amounts to a \u201cbreach of contract\u201d and sought an injunction to ensure it goes ahead.<\/p>\n

Women\u2019s Rights Network Northern Ireland had applied to host the \u2018Respect, Rights and Reality\u2019 event at St Mary\u2019s University College in west Belfast as part of the community arts festival. <\/p>\n

After initially accepting the event and including it in its schedule, F\u00e9ile organisers cancelled the event last week, saying it was \u201cunaware from the initial submission that this event would promote campaigns against rights for the Transgender community\u201d.<\/p>\n

WRN NI have rejected claims that they are \u201ctransphobic\u201d, but believe that sex cannot be changed after birth. <\/p>\n

\"Suspect<\/a>\"‘We’ve<\/a><\/p>\n

A mediation meeting held in Belfast by members of F\u00e9ile an Phobail\u2019s board and the WRN on Friday has been described as \u201cpleasant\u201d and \u201cnot hostile\u201d, ended without a resolution and led to the initiation of legal action at the High Court in Belfast on Monday.<\/p>\n

The substance of the High Court action was not discussed in detail on Monday, as a request was made from F\u00e9ile\u2019s legal team for more time to consider the motion submitted on behalf of WRN.<\/p>\n

The judicial review case will now be heard on Wednesday, eight days before the panel discussion was due to go ahead on August 4.<\/p>\n

The application to the court by counsel on behalf of the women\u2019s rights group asserts that F\u00e9ile\u2019s cancellation of the event was \u201cwrongful, null and void\u201d due to a \u201cfundamental breach of contract\u201d.<\/p>\n

It is seeking an injunction to prevent the organisers of the festival from \u201crevoking, frustrating or denying the plaintiff access to the premises to hold the panel discussion\u201d.<\/p>\n

While the judicial review seeks damages from F\u00e9ile, the WRN application also says \u201cthe opportunity to participate in this year\u2019s F\u00e9ile programme is unique and cannot be recreated by a subsequent award of damages\u201d.<\/p>\n

In a statement on Friday, F\u00e9ile an Phobail said it had entered a meeting with WRN \u201cin good faith\u201d but was \u201cextremely disappointed\u201d legal representatives for the group had filed court papers before the meeting had concluded.<\/p>\n

The statement added: \u201cF\u00e9ile an Phobail will continue to promote events which provide balance and inclusivity and encourage those who are marginalised to get involved in F\u00e9ile. F\u00e9ile\u2019s decision to withdraw this event stands.\u201d<\/p>\n

F\u00e9ile an Phobail\u2019s annual Debates and Discussions programme for F\u00e9ile 2026 was launched on Monday <\/a>as part of the festival, which runs between 28 July and 9 August.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Legal representatives for a women\u2019s rights group have argued that the cancellation of an event it had organised…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":571655,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[93,239156,61,60,103152],"class_list":["post-571654","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-entertainment","tag-entertainment","tag-feile-an-phobail","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-west-belfast"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/571654","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=571654"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/571654\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/571655"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=571654"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=571654"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=571654"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}