Colin Harvey: A target has been put on my back, says Queen's academic

A Queen's University Belfast academic has said a campaign of intimidation has put a "virtual target" on his back.

Colin Harvey is a professor of human rights law at the university.

He said it was particularly since he engaged with work about Ireland's "constitutional future" that he had been targeted.

Queen's previously said it had ongoing engagement with police over staff welfare following concerns about the safety of Prof Harvey.

Prof Harvey, who is a board member of the Ireland's Future organisation, said he was being vilified "for having what is essentially a Good Friday Agreement conversation".

The organisation was set up to advocate for and promote debate and discussion about the future of Ireland.

It has held a number of events to discuss planning for a united Ireland, most recently in the 3Arena in Dublin.

Speaking to BBC News NI's Good Morning Ulster programme, Prof Harvey said he had been caricatured and vilified.

"I have been the subject of what is a sustained, systemic campaign of intimidation and harassment that has circled around Queen's - but not only around Queen's - in relation to my work," he said.

"That's been really repetitive lying, repetitive disinformation and it links back to a previous conversation about people questioning my commitment to a peaceful and democratic society here in the past, present and future.

"What that has effectively done is it has put a virtual target on my back."

• Police 'engaging with QUB over staff safety'

• 'Smear campaign' against NI academic condemned

Prof Harvey said he had spoken to police earlier this week about his personal security.

"There's some very irresponsible language being used around me at the moment in my place in this society and people have very short memories.

"We all know where this can lead - all it will take is one delusional person who believes some of the nonsense that has been spoken about me in this place now to act on that, to think they will be a hero by physically attacking me."

He added that he felt people were trying to destroy his personal and professional life and that he had been given security advice for both work and his home.

Belfast District Commander Ch Supt Darrin Jones said that police "are aware of multiple social media posts towards an individual and inquiries are ongoing".

A spokesperson for Queen's said the university has "no knowledge or record of incidents of intimidation" but any report will be taken seriously and investigated thoroughly.

"Queen's University is committed to enhancing good relations across the community and is a welcoming and inclusive place for all," they said.

"The university is a global institution that respects all viewpoints and acts as a shared space for everyone in this community."

A spokesperson for Queen's previously said the university strongly supported "freedom of thought and expression"

The Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) said that students from a unionist background have faced intimidation at the university.

Former Queen's student Rowan Wise says he faced comments on campus and in society groups that made him feel uncomfortable.

"When I was at Queen's, people certainly basically made derogatory remarks about my wearing of the poppy and this was common in my time, I'm sure it's common right now," he told Good Morning Ulster.

"It's out and out sectarianism is what it is."

Former DUP minister Peter Weir said there is a level of "perception" when it comes to direct or indirect intimidation.

"Sometimes the nature of intimidation could be very difficult to prove in that regard," he said.

Prof Harvey recently co-authored a report called Making a Case for Irish Unity in the EU.

It was commissioned by The Left in the European Parliament group, which includes MEPs from a number of countries, including Ireland.

The report also had the Queen's University logo on the cover.

In a post on social media, DUP leader Jeffrey Donaldson said that use of the university logo on the report was "very worrying" and he would raise it in a meeting with the QUB vice-chancellor Prof Ian Greer.

KRW Law, on behalf of Prof Harvey, said approval for the use of the university logo on the report "was explicitly sought in advance and was definitively authorised, by the appropriate authority in QUB".

A number of United Nations human rights experts previously condemned a "smear campaign" against Prof Harvey.

You can listen to Prof Harvey's interview on Good Morning Ulster on BBC Sounds.