Sam Boal Sam Boal

CAMPAIGNER GEMMA O’DOHERTY has announced she intends on running in the upcoming European elections.

She made the announcement at a meeting on 10 April before confirming it in a live video on social media. 

In the video, she said she will “fight to the death to save [Ireland] from the desecration that we are seeing all around us”, which is why she has decided to run in the European elections. She said she will be putting in her nomination papers in over the coming days.

She continued:

I announced this last night after many sleepless nights because it is the last thing I want to do. Being a journalist, stepping into the dark side of politics has been extremely difficult for me, but I know that it is the only way that we can change things – bar a revolution. It may be left to the next generation or the generation behind them, to bring about a revolution. I hope not for their sakes, but for us now it is about entering the political arena unfortunately and it has to be done, and I am willing to do it.

O’Doherty said she is going to offer her group Anti-Corruption Ireland to the Irish people and “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”. But she said she “can’t do it on my own”.

Liberal politics

O’Doherty had tried to run in last October’s presidential election, but failed to secure enough nominations from county councils to get on the ballot.

In the video, O’Doherty described herself as a liberal whose politics are probably more inclined to the traditional left.

“Because I have always stood up for the poor; I see the inequality. That’s my academic background,” she said. “That’s why I’m against mass immigration, mass uncontrolled immigration as opposed to controlled immigration.” She said that mass uncontrolled immigration drives down wages. 

Last year, O’Doherty was criticised by the brother of murdered journalist Veronica Guerin for her comments on her killing. Jimmy Guerin said that O’Doherty’s comment – that she believed Guerin was murdered by the State – was “disgusting” and “offensive”.

In the video, which is filmed on a beach, O’Doherty said that rural Ireland “is signing its own death warrant” but that people living in rural Ireland “are more awake to what’s going on than their cousins in Dublin”. 

She criticised wind turbines in the video, describing them as sinister, saying “there’s a criminal cabal working to make us think our planet can’t cope”. She also said she had seen a sign for an autism-friendly town, but that it is “very hard to know what to say when you see things like this” as people should question the reasons for autism rates in Ireland. 

In February, O’Doherty and a small number of followers protested at the Google offices in Dublin over changes to her YouTube account.

The European elections will be held on Friday 24 May in Ireland, on the same day as the local elections. Thirteen MEPs will be elected. Ireland currently has 11 out of the 751 seats in the European Parliament. After Brexit and some reorganisation of seats, we will gain two more seats, meaning we will have 13 MEPs – however, due to the UK’s exit date being extended, the two extra MEPs may not immediately be able to take their seats.