Renowned Human Rights Lawyer and Academic Professor Colm Ó Cinnéide to deliver Annual FLAC Justice Lecture, alongside a reading by Stephen Rea from Daniel O’Connell’s speeches
8 December 2025
FLAC (Free Legal Advice Centres) will hold its Annual Justice Lecture at 6:30pm on Monday, 8th December 2025 in the King’s Inns, Constitution Hill, Dublin 7.
Celebrating the 250th Anniversary of the birth of Daniel O’Connell, Professor Colm Ó Cinnéide will deliver the lecture which will be preceded by a reading from the speeches of Daniel O’Connell by actor Stephen Rea.
The lecture will be titled "Who Values the People's Rights?" Holding Fast to Justice, Rule of Law and Human Rights.
Commenting ahead of the lecture, Professor Colm Ó Cinnéide said:
“Human rights are not as fashionable as they once were. In some quarters, they are regarded as outmoded relics of the post-Cold War world. But their fundamental importance hasn't gone away. They represent the clearest articulation of the importance of human dignity. And Ireland should stay the course. It should continue to make the case for rights. Just as Daniel O'Connell did two centuries ago, when ‘rights talk’ had again become unfashionable after the American and French Revolutions. And it should continue to make sure rights are effectively protected in its own legal system.”
ENDS
Notes:
FLAC (Free Legal Advice Centres) is an independent legal, human rights and equality organisation, which works in a number of different ways to promote equal access to justice.:
- In 2024, our Telephone Information and Referral Line responded to 11,435 queries. FLAC also provides Phone Legal Advice Clinics.
- Our independent law centre provides targeted legal services for the Traveller and Roma communities and also undertakes public interest litigation (i.e. cases which may have an impact beyond the individual).
- FLAC also operates PILA which facilitates NGOs to obtain legal assistance from private lawyers via its pro bono referral scheme.
- FLAC makes policy recommendations in relation to areas of law that most impact on people living in poverty and disadvantage, including equality and anti-discrimination law, social welfare law, housing law, human rights law, and access to justice.
About Colm Ó Cinnéide
Colm Ó Cinnéide is Professor of Constitutional and Human Rights Law at University College London (UCL). A graduate of University College Cork and King's Inns, he has published extensively in the fields of comparative constitutional, human rights and anti-discrimination law - being the co-author of amongst other books Discrimination Law: Theory & Context (Sweet & Maxwell: 2008) and Irish Popular Sovereignty from a Domestic and Comparative Perspective (Routledge, 2021).
He was from 2006-16 a member of the European Committee on Social Rights of the Council of Europe (serving as Vice-President of the Committee from 2010-4), and since 2008 has been a member of the academic advisory board of Blackstone Chambers in London. He has also acted as specialist legal adviser to the Joint Committee on Human Rights and the Women & Equalities Committee of the UK Parliament, as well as a range of national and international organisations including the International Labour Organisation and the European Commission. In 2024, he was nominated by the Government of Ireland as a candidate for the European Court of Human Rights, and his work has been cited by the Court of Justice of the EU and the Irish Supreme Court.
About Stephen Rea
Stephen Rea is FLAC’s Artistic Patron and he is one of the foremost actors of his generation, coming to worldwide attention when he was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor for Neil Jordan’s The Crying Game in 1992. He has enjoyed great acclaim on Irish and international stages through his collaborations with playwrights Sam Shepard, Brian Friel and Enda Walsh. He has most recently appeared in a production of the Samuel Beckett play Krapp’s Last Tape in Dublin, London and New York to great acclaim.