36 Facts About Gemma O'Doherty

Gemma O'Doherty was born on 24 August 1968 and is an Irish far-right activist and conspiracy theorist.

Gemma O'Doherty began her career as a staff writer for the Irish Independent, contributing articles on travel, the criminal justice system and corruption, but was dismissed in 2013.

Gemma O'Doherty attempted to run as a candidate in the 2018 Irish presidential election, but failed to secure the minimum qualifying number of nominations required to be added to the ballot.

Gemma O'Doherty has been banned from YouTube since July 2019 for violations of its policies on hate speech.

Gemma O'Doherty was born in Ranelagh in Dublin, to Hubert O'Doherty, a pharmacist, and his wife Sheila.

Gemma O'Doherty has a BA in Politics and an MA in Equality Studies from University College Dublin.

Gemma O'Doherty was a teacher before becoming a journalist, and lived in Spain for a number of years.

Gemma O'Doherty is the widow of the editor of the Irish Independents Sunday Review, Peter Carvosso.

Gemma O'Doherty joined the Irish Independent in 1995 as a staff writer, later becoming Chief Features Writer.

In 2010, Gemma O'Doherty wrote an article highlighting issues in the investigation into the 1985 death of a priest, Niall Molloy, after a society wedding in County Offaly that included senior Irish political figures, and the collapse of the subsequent manslaughter trial.

Gemma O'Doherty's work led to the reopening of the case.

Gemma O'Doherty announced on 19 August 2018 she was seeking a nomination to stand for the Irish presidency in the 2018 election on an anti-corruption platform.

Gemma O'Doherty's claims drew labels of a conspiracy theorist from the Irish media, including Veronica's brother, councillor Jimmy Guerin.

On 10 April 2019, Gemma O'Doherty announced that she intended standing in May's European Parliament election, in the Dublin constituency.

Gemma O'Doherty registered as an independent candidate, and not an ACI candidate, as ACI is not a registered political party, with newspapers reporting her saying that she was going to offer Anti-Corruption Ireland to the Irish people, and saying that "if they don't want it I can say that I tried but they didn't want it, they wanted to continue to pursue the death of their country".

However, Gemma O'Doherty continued to use ACI branding on some of her European election campaign posters and literature.

Gemma O'Doherty was later a candidate in the 2019 Dublin Fingal by-election held on 29 November 2019.

Gemma O'Doherty received 1,026 first preference votes and was eliminated on the third count.

Gemma O'Doherty ran as an independent candidate in the Dublin Fingal constituency, in the 2020 general election.

In September 2018, during the presidential election campaign, Gemma O'Doherty drew criticism for her claim, described as conspiratorial, that the state colluded in the murder of journalist Veronica Guerin.

In March 2019, Gemma O'Doherty tweeted that the Christchurch mosque shootings in New Zealand had the hallmarks of a "false flag" operation to incite fresh Islamic State attacks.

In May 2021, Gemma O'Doherty stated in a live-streamed video that "I don't see anyone or know anyone who is gay who is happy", calling it a "miserable lifestyle".

The Irish Times reported that her account was suspended the week before after posting a video regarding ethnic minorities in Ireland; however, Gemma O'Doherty appeared to evade this ban by using an alternative account.

At the next hearing, on 6 May 2020, Gemma O'Doherty said that the COVID-19 conditions were comparable to living in "Nazi Germany".

Gemma O'Doherty said that the basis for introducing the restrictions was "scientifically fraudulent" and that evidence to that effect would be presented at the full hearing of their action.

Guerin's solicitors secured orders against Gemma O'Doherty, including one that she had been formally served with the summons outlining the action against her after an ex parte hearing.

Gemma O'Doherty denied that she had tried to evade service of defamation proceedings, and claimed that the defamation action was vexatious and an "outrageous attempt" to prevent her from revealing corruption.

Gemma O'Doherty sought orders preventing the publishing of her purported home address by the media and to have Jimmy Guerin's action against her struck out.

The Judge however stated "I want to record clearly that [Gemma O'Doherty] has failed to substantiate any of her allegations of wrongdoing made against [Guerins] legal team" and awarded costs to Guerin saying that this was "to factor in my disapproval of the unsubstantiated complaints made by the [Gemma O'Doherty] against the [Guerin's] legal team".

In June 2021, Beaumont Hospital, Dublin sought injunctions against Gemma O'Doherty, specifically concerning videos posted online that it claimed were "clearly defamatory".

Gemma O'Doherty was arrested at the footbridge over the N11 at Kilmacanogue in August 2020.

Gemma O'Doherty was later asked by a Garda if she had a reasonable excuse to leave her county, to which she claimed the Garda didn't know the constitution or his oath and that she was on "essential duties".

Gemma O'Doherty had used the photo of the woman's son in an article in The Irish Light, trying to link sudden deaths to COVID-19 vaccines.

The court made orders requiring Gemma O'Doherty to remove any image of the plaintiff and her late son from any form of media that Gemma O'Doherty owns or operates.

Gemma O'Doherty stated that she couldn't comply with the order, claiming that it was an "illegal injunction" because the court is not permitted to be funded by third-parties, referring to a GoFundMe fundraiser for the case.

Gemma O'Doherty later requested for the judge be recused when she learned he previously served as a barrister for former Garda Commissioner Martin Callinan.