Michael Farrell (born 1944, Magherafelt) is an Irish civil rights activist and writer.
Imprisoned for breach of the peace in 1973, Farrell and another PD member, Tony Canavan, went on hunger strike in demand of political status.
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.
[8] He was appointed a member of the Irish Human Rights Commission in 2001 and reappointed in October 2006, serving until 2011.
[10][11] 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.