World famous philosopher Noam Chomsky is to visit Belfast later this year to deliver a lecture on human rights, Amnesty International announced today.
The American author, linguist and political activist will give the organisation's annual lecture at the Queen's festival at the end of October.
The talk will touch on areas examined in the liberal philosopher's forthcoming book Hopes and Prospects
- which focuses on social struggles in Latin America and the rise of grassroots campaigning for President Obama in the US.
Ahead of his visit, Mr Chomsky said: "The UK has seen recently what other states have experienced countless times before - that their political and economic leaders can't be trusted to do what's right.
"Activism is growing all over the world and ordinary people are realising that they can be agents for change. For years, Amnesty has been mobilising people to stand up for justice and I'm delighted to be giving their lecture in Belfast."
Amnesty International's Northern Ireland director Patrick Corrigan said it was fantastic to have someone of Mr Chomsky's standing to deliver the lecture.
"We hope his rallying call will get more Northern Ireland people involved in human rights campaigning on issues from Afghanistan to Burma, and from China to the United States," he said. "That's what Amnesty does and that's how we can help people to take a stand on issues we feel strongly about."
The Amnesty International Annual Lecture will take place at 7.30pm on Friday 30th October in the Whitla Hall as part of the Ulster Bank Belfast Festival at Queen's.
Tickets are available from the online box office at www.belfastfestival.com