Firebrand cleric James McConnell, who stood trial after branding Islam 'Satanic', will speak at a conference involving Muslim leaders next week.
The Northern Irish pastor's address next Thursday, March 9, at the 'gathering of people of influence' in Restrever, County Down, is the first time he has been invited to speak at such an event, according to the Belfast Telegraph.
'It gives me an opportunity to put my views across,' said the 79-year-old according to the paper. 'I have never been asked to participate in anything like this before. I was always treated like a pariah. But if I refused to go I would be accused of cowardice.'
It comes after he was prosecuted for a sermon broadcast online in 2014 in which he lambasted Islam as 'heathen', 'satanic' and a 'doctrine spawned in hell'.
McConnell was later acquitted with the judge ruling his remarks were offensive but not 'grossly' so under the law.
The Belfast Metropolitan Tabernacle founder said: 'People are always asking me if I am sorry for what I said and I tell them "No, I am not sorry" because what I said is right. It is not Muslims I am opposed to, it is their theology.
'But I have always been a supporter of free speech. I might disagree with what a Muslim or a Catholic might say but they have a right to say it. We are living in a free country.'
McConnell's address will be open to the public and he will face an audience grilling.
'I have been told to expect questions – in fact, that they are going to pepper me with questions – and I am up for that,' he said.
One of those in attendance will be Muslim preacher Sheikh Dr Muhammad Al-Hussaini, who spoke on behalf of McConnell during his court case.
'He is a Muslim cleric and intellectual and he came to court to speak in support of me and we have become good friends,' McConnell told the Northern Irish paper.
Delegates from the Belfast Islamic Centre will also attend as well as other Muslim leaders including Sheikh Dr Umar Al Qadri and Sheikh Dr Ali Saleh.
A spokesman for the event said: 'In the context of global insecurity, religious extremism, Brexit and the future of the Stormont Assembly, the participants will embark on a journey with people they strongly disagree with, understanding at all times that they may continue to disagree.'
