‘The elites are frightened about the message I’m putting out’

Gemma O’Doherty made her name as an investigative reporter and campaigning journalist. Now she’s running for the presidency on an anti-corruption ticket. But questions about her views on vaccines, abortion and transgender children won’t go away

Gemma O’Doherty: ‘My priority is corruption, it is the housing crisis, it is 4,000 children, almost, being homeless’ Picture: Maura Hickey

Any Irish citizen over the age of 35 is entitled to run for president. So why not an award-winning journalist? Gemma O’Doherty wouldn’t be the first from the profession to do so – but could she be the most controversial?

After nearly two decades working for Independent News & Media (INM) O’Doherty was made redundant in 2013 following a dispute with the paper over her coverage of the Garda penalty points scandal, which ...