Gemma O'Doherty

Gemma O'Doherty
O'Doherty in 2014
Nationality	Irish
Occupation	Journalist

Gemma O'Doherty is an Irish investigative journalist, known for her work in exposing corruption in the criminal justice system and the police. Her reporting on the Fr Molloy murder brought about a reopening of that case and led to the scandal being described in the Irish parliament as the biggest cover-up in the history of the state. She has also exposed police malpractice in the Mary Boyle case, the Raonaid Murray murder, the Jim Goonan case and others.^[1][2][3]

O'Doherty was Chief Features Writer at the Irish Independent where she worked for 16 years until her boss Stephen Rae, a former editor of the Garda Review, sacked her after she exposed the fact that the chief of police Martin Callinan, then head of the Garda Síochána (the national police force), had speeding points wiped.^[4][5][6] Her experience led to allegations of a cover-up at the heart of the Irish establishment.^[7] Her 2016 documentary 'Mary Boyle: The Untold Story' about the police cover-up of Ireland's longest missing person, which she released on YouTube had been watched by almost 200,000 shortly after its release.

Career

O'Doherty is recognised^[8] for her involvement in the investigation into the 1985 death of Fr. Niall Molloy. Her work partially contributed to the reopening of that case.. According to O'Doherty, the priest's murder "exposed a cover up of staggering proportions involving several institutions of the State and the Catholic Church".^[9]

While investigating a nationwide penalty points cancellation scandal, O'Doherty sought to question Garda Commissioner Martin Callinan about the quashing of his own speeding points. This action was condemned by her employer and cost O'Doherty her job.^[10] Apart from a mention in satirical magazine The Phoenix,^[3] O'Doherty's sacking was largely ignored by the Irish mainstream media. It was, however, raised in the underground Irish media, and a blog report brought it to the attention of international media. Among those to condemn the sacking were fellow-journalists in the Toronto Star, Daily Mail and The Guardian.^[9] In Ireland, Senator John Gilroy attempted to raise the matter in the Seanad, saying "This case has been reported extensively in international media and social media but it does not seem to have generated any traction in our domestic media. When any journalist is sacked it is noteworthy, but when an investigative journalist of Ms O'Doherty's standing is sacked this must raise great concerns for all democrats".^[9] Dáil deputies Joe Higgins and Pádraig Mac Lochlainn also raised the matter.^[7]

It later emerged that O'Doherty's former boss Stephen Rae was among those to have had penalty points annulled.^[11] This was in turn ignored^[11] by the Irish mainstream media and only reported either on social media or internationally.^[12][13] Callinan's resignation as Garda Commissioner in March 2014 over remarks that whistleblowers were "disgusting" prompted Professor of Journalism and media commentator Roy Greenslade to deem O'Doherty "vindicated".^[14]

In December 2014, the Independent admitted they were wrong to dismiss O'Doherty, and issued an apology to her paying her damages to settle a defamation action in the High Court and a case brought by her to the Employment Appeals Tribunal .^[15]

Awards

• 2007 ESB National Media Awards (Print Campaigning and Social Issues)^[16]
• 2011 GSK Irish Medical Media Awards (Consumer Print Media)^[17]
• Shortlisted for 2012 NNI Journalism Awards (Crime & Security Reporter of the Year and Feature Writer of the Year)^[18][19]
• 2012 International Journalism Festival^[20]
• 2016 Award of Recognition in the Women Filmmaker section at the Hollywood Indepdendent Documentary Awards^[21]
• 2016 Award of Excellence in the Feature Documentary section at the Hollywood Indepdendent Documentary Awards^[21]
• 2016 Award of Merit at IndieFEST Film Awards^[22]

References