Michael Farrell (activist)

{{Short description|Irish civil rights activist}}

{{Use Hiberno-English|date=December 2024}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2018}}

{{BLP sources|date=February 2013}}

{{Infobox officeholder

| name = Michael Farrell

| birth_name =

| birth_date = {{Birth year and age|1944}}

| birth_place = Magherafelt

| alma_mater = {{ubl|Queen's University Belfast {{small|(BA)}}|University of Strathclyde {{small|(MSc)}}|Dublin Institute of Technology {{small|(DipLegalStud)}}|Law Society of Ireland}}

| party = People's Democracy

| office2 = Member of the Irish Human Rights Commission

| office1 = Council of State of Ireland

| termstart1 = 6 January 2012

| termend1 = 10 November 2018

| office = Member of the European Commission against Racism and Intolerance

| term_start = 24 November 2011

| occupation = Consultant in Human Rights law

| profession = {{ubl|Lecturer {{small|(1968–1981)}}|Journalist {{small|(1981–2000)}}|Solicitor {{small|(2000–2016)}}}}

| termend2 = 2011

| termstart2 = 2001

| appointer1 = Michael D. Higgins

| image =

}}

Michael Farrell (born 1944, Magherafelt) is an Irish civil rights activist and writer. He was a leading figure in the Queen's University-based People's Democracy (PD) from 1968 until the 1970s.{{Cite web |last=Farrell |first=Michael |date=2018-12-12 |title=Reflections on the Northern Ireland Civil Rights Movement Fifty Years On by Michael Farrell |url=https://www.qub.ac.uk/Research/GRI/mitchell-institute/FileStore/Filetoupload,864825,en.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210929023838/https://www.qub.ac.uk/Research/GRI/mitchell-institute/FileStore/Filetoupload,864825,en.pdf |archive-date=2021-09-29 |access-date=2024-09-25 |website=Queen's University Belfast}}{{Cite web |title=Interview with Michael Farrell for RTE News in September 1969 |url=https://www.qmul.ac.uk/peaceprocesshistory/layers-of-meaning-directory/items/interview-with-michael-farrell-for-rte-news-in-september-1969.html |access-date=2024-09-25 |website=Queen Mary University of London|date=12 September 1969 }}{{Cite news |date=1969-09-12 |title="The scapegoat has been selected as the People's Democracy" |url=https://www.rte.ie/archives/exhibitions/1031-civil-rights-movement-1968-9/1041-cameron-report/320007-reaction-to-cameron-report-michael-farrell/ |access-date=2024-09-25 |work=RTÉ News |via=RTÉ Archives}}

Farrell was educated at Queen's University Belfast, earning a Bachelor of Arts (BA) in English, and the University of Strathclyde, where he was awarded a Master of Science (MSc) in Politics.{{Cite web |title=FARRELL Michael - European Commission against Racism and Intolerance |url=https://www.coe.int/en/web/european-commission-against-racism-and-intolerance/ecri-bureau/-/asset_publisher/TlH7DYDQnFdQ/content/farrell-michael |access-date=2024-09-24 |website=Council of Europe}}{{Cite web |title=Michael Farrell |url=https://independent.academia.edu/FarrellMichael |access-date=2024-09-24 |website=Academia.edu}} He was a Labour Trotskyist, becoming involved in the Northern Ireland civil rights movement in Northern Ireland in the late 1960s and joining its executive. He was also a founding member of PD, established on 9 October 1968 after Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) had broken up a civil rights march in Derry on 5 October. Farrell stood as their candidate for Bannside in the Northern Ireland general election of 1969, where he finished third behind Terence O'Neill (the Northern Ireland Prime Minister) and Ian Paisley.[http://cain.ulst.ac.uk/issues/politics/election/rs1969.htm CAIN: Stormont General Election (NI) - Monday 24 February 1969] He was interned without trial for six weeks from 9 August 1971. Imprisoned for breach of the peace in 1973, Farrell and another PD member, Tony Canavan, went on hunger strike in demand of political status. The strike lasted for thirty-four days before they were released.

In the 1980s he campaigned for the release of victims of miscarriage of justice cases in England and in the Republic of Ireland, including the Birmingham Six.{{Cite news |date=2022-09-09 |title=Michael Farrell recognised by UCD with honorary doctorate of laws |url=https://www.irishlegal.com/articles/michael-farrell-recognised-by-ucd-with-honorary-doctorate-of-laws |access-date=2024-09-25 |work=Irish Legal News}} Farrell also campaigned against political censorship under Section 31 of the Broadcasting Act in Ireland.

After moving to Dublin, he studied at Dublin Institute of Technology to receive a Diploma of Legal Studies and became a solicitor through the Law Society of Ireland. Farrell was co-chairperson of the Irish Council for Civil Liberties from 1995 to 2001.{{Cite web |date=2022-09-06 |title=Michael Farrell - UCD President's Office |url=https://www.ucd.ie/president/about/universityawards/honorarydegrees/2022/michaelfarrell/ |access-date=2024-09-25 |website=University College Dublin}} He was appointed a member of the Irish Human Rights Commission in 2001 and reappointed in October 2006, serving until 2011. In 2005 he was appointed to the Steering Committee of the National Action Plan Against Racism. He previously was a senior solicitor for Free Legal Advice Centres between 2005 and 2015, and has brought cases to the European Court of Human Rights and the UN Human Rights Committee.

In 2011 he was appointed to the European Commission against Racism and Intolerance and was reappointed for a second term in 2016.{{Cite web |date=2016-12-05 |title=Michael Farrell re-appointed to European Commission against Racism and Intolerance |url=https://www.irishlegal.com/articles/michael-farrell-re-appointed-to-european-commission-against-racism-and-intolerance |access-date=2024-09-25 |website=Irish Legal News}}

In January 2012 he was nominated to the Irish Council of State by President Michael D. Higgins.{{cite news |last=Doyle |first=Kilian |date=2012-01-06 |title=Council of State nominees unveiled |url=https://www.irishtimes.com/news/council-of-state-nominees-unveiled-1.691190 |access-date=2024-09-25 |newspaper=The Irish Times}}{{Cite news |date=2012-01-06 |title=President appoints seven to Council of State |url=https://www.rte.ie/news/2012/0106/310632-president/ |access-date=2024-09-25 |work=RTÉ News}}

In 2022 University College Dublin recognised Farrell's contribution to Irish public life, specifically to human rights in the context the introduction of the state’s gender recognition laws, with an honorary doctorate.