Ian Paisley, Nadine Coyle and Seamus Heaney would be the Northern Ireland guests of honour and ginger nuts the biscuit of choice at people’s ‘dream tea party’, according to a new survey to mark the launch of AMNESTEA, Amnesty International’s new fundraising tea parties.

Other dream tea party invitees from Northern Ireland included Titanic buider Thomas Andrews, actor James Nesbitt and Olympian Mary Peters. Nationally, Stephen Fry, Nelson Mandela and Mahatma Gandhi topped the list of preferred guests and chocolate Hobnobs were the favoured biscuit.

In a survey of Amnesty’s online followers across Twitter, Facebook, email and blogs, popular choices also included Barack Obama, Jesus Christ, comedian David Mitchell, William Churchill and the Dalai Lama. Custard Creams and retro Party Rings were other popular biscuit choices, though many respondents said they would bake their own for such illustrious guests. Party invites to the ‘Dream tea party’ would also go to Martin Luther King, Maya Angelou and Burmese democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi, according to Amnesty.

All over the country, on and around 10 December (Human Rights Day), people will be brewing up, baking cakes and inviting their friends over for an AMNESTEA party. Some people are going a step further and hosting bigger public tea parties: at school, in the office, at the village hall or even a ‘virtual’ tea-party online. But the aim is the same: having a great time while raising money for Amnesty’s work to protect human rights around the world.

Amnesty International's Northern Ireland programme director, Patrick Corrigan, said:

“We’re hoping that lots of people in Northern Ireland will pop the kettle on and get out the biccies in the coming weeks. If you can't get Ian Paisley, Nadine Coyle or Seamus Heaney to come along, sure you'll have just as much fun with your own friends and family and be raising money for Amnesty at the same time.”

Since 1961, Amnesty International has worked with millions of people to defend human rights worldwide. Amnesty is currently campaigning to protect individual victims of human rights abuse; to Women's rights's rights's rightss rights's rights's rights's rights; to end torture and the death penalty and to demand dignity for the world’s poorest people whose basic rights are denied.

Find out more about AMNESTEA and host your own party