FORMER IRISH INDEPENDENT journalist Gemma O’Doherty has launched legal proceedings against Village Magazine.
Court papers for the case were filed in the High Court on Monday.
Proceedings are understood to relate to a recent editorial published by Village relating to O’Doherty.
Contacted by TheJournal.ie, O’Doherty did not respond to request for comment.
Launched in 2004, Village Magazine is known for its left-leaning investigative reporting and describes itself as being “driven by a clearly-stated political agenda and focuses on politics not personalities.”
O’Doherty’s work was published in Village Magazine a number of times.
In an editorial published on Saturday, the publication said it would no longer publish O’Doherty’s work.
O’Doherty is being represented by Belfast-based firm KRW Law, a large practice which has previously assisted solicitors in high-profile cases, including those involving the man convicted of the 1988 Lockerbie bombing and the parents of Madeleine McCann.
Michael Smith, editor of Village Magazine, told TheJournal.ie he did not wish to comment on the legal proceedings.
O’Doherty has been a controversial figure on social media in recent years, and regularly issues posts criticising Ireland’s media, political parties and immigration policies.
In recent months, O’Doherty has staged a number of protests at Google’s offices on Barrow Street in Dublin.
The demonstrations were initially organised after O’Doherty was suspended from Youtube – which is owned by Google – for violating its policies on hate speech and harassment, after she posted a video criticising ethnic minorities in Ireland.
City councillors from three wards in southside Dublin recently convened a special meeting with An Garda Síochana to discuss measures to address ongoing protests outside Google’s Dublin offices.
O’Doherty attempted to run in last year’s presidential election, but she was unable to secure enough nominations from local councils to get on the ballot.
She also ran for the European elections this year in the Dublin constituency, where she secured 6,659 first preference votes, finishing 12th out of 19 candidates.
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