STATEMENT BY GEMMA O’DOHERTY REGARDING EDEL CAMPBELL

This unlawful case is the most aggressive attack on press freedom in the history of the State

Statement By Gemma O’Doherty Regarding Edel Campbell

1. Edel Campbell is receiving funding for her case via a third-party fundraiser. This is a flagrant breach of the maintenance/champerty rules in Ireland and is a criminal offence. This was reported to Judge Mark Sanfey and clearly stated in Gemma O’Doherty’s defence. Gemma O’Doherty intends to appeal any order against her on this basis and many other abuses of the law and due process that Ms Campbell is engaged in.

2. At no point has Gemma O’Doherty made any contact with Edel Campbell whatsoever and has never attempted to contact her. Gemma O’Doherty has been forced to block Ms Campbell when Ms Campbell was trolling her online in the middle of the night and texting her mobile phone. How did Ms Campbell come to have Gemma O’Doherty’s mobile telephone number and why does she troll her on social media? This is a grave breach of Gemma O’Doherty’s privacy and must be explained.

3. At no point did Gemma O’Doherty state that Diego Gilsenan (18) died as a result of the Covid vaccine. She stated clearly in her article in The Irish Light that she did not know how he died. She stated that we need to know why so many young people like him are dying. Excess mortality in Ireland has peaked at more than 20pc since 2021. The article by Gemma O’Doherty was written out of care and concern over the deaths of so many young Irish people and was a critical journalistic exercise.

4. Gemma O’Doherty used a stamp-sized picture (one inch squared) of Diego Gilsenan, an adult, which was already published widely all over the internet. She did not name him. There is no breach of either law or ethics in doing this and it is normal journalistic practice. Ms O’Doherty did however remove the picture of Diego almost a year ago from the online version of her newspaper, out of good will although she was under no legal or moral obligation to do so.

5. Ms Campbell has been given free run of the national airwaves to make highly defamatory claims about Ms O’Doherty which are untrue and a flagrant abuse of court rules. Her lawyers have also stated that they are using the case to change the law in Ireland to stop journalists examining suspicious deaths. This is an outrageous attack on free speech and freedom of the press, and would be unconstitutional and a breach of the Coroner’s Act.

6. When Gemma O’Doherty examined the inquest report, she uncovered many flaws and contradictions in it, including inconsistencies between Ms Campbell’s statement and that of Owen McArdle - the son of a senior Garda - who was the last person with Diego on the night of his death in August 2021. For some unexplained reason, Mr McArdle did not have to attend the inquest, and his statement, which is unsigned, was taken in absentia. The cause of death on the inquest report has been crossed out without medical initials and replaced with another cause. This is highly irregular. The public need to know why this is the case and informed about all of the other inadequacies pertaining to the inquest.

   Ms Campbell’s explanation about moving her son’s lifeless body from the ‘thing’ in the garden shed before emergency services and Gardai arrived, and what happened in the hours before she allegedly found it are contradictory and bizarre and warrant full journalistic scrutiny. It must also be asked why there was no thorough Garda investigation given the serious discrepancies in the inquest report and witness statements. Everything Ms O’Doherty has exposed about the failings of the inquest are perfectly within her remit to do so as a journalist - with full protection in law under the Irish Coroner’s Act and many European and international conventions on Freedom of the Press. The Coroner’s Act states clearly that inquest reports shall be made available to the public. That is what Gemma O’Doherty has done in her capacity as an experienced investigative journalist and will continue to do.

7. At the funeral of Diego Gilsenan, the priest spoke about the scourge of drug-dealing in his locality in Cavan. The funeral was put online for public view. Ms O’Doherty reported on this matter, which is of huge public importance. Why was the funeral video subsequently taken down from the internet, after evidence of criminal behaviour was reported on it?  Some members of Edel Campbell’s family have been involved in drugs and are known to the Gardai. It is also alleged that Diego Gilsenan was using drugs. This is a matter of enormous public interest.

8. Ms Edel Campbell is involved in a criminal fundraiser and has committed perjury and fraud in her action against Gemma O’Doherty. Judge Mark Sanfey has tolerated the litany of corrupt and illegal behaviour committed by Ms Campbell even though very specific proof of this has been provided to him in sworn evidence by Gemma O’Doherty. Judge Mark Sanfey is denying Gemma O’Doherty her rights enshrined in Irish and European law to report on a case of such enormous public importance. He is involved in an aggressive attack on press freedom. His actions are unconstitutional and will be referred to higher authorities should he attempt to silence her in her work. He should recuse himself immediately from this case, especially since he denied Gemma O’Doherty and John Waters a judicial review in their action against the lockdown and is clearly biased against them.

Due to his egregious actions, his attacks on Gemma O’Doherty and press freedom are now gaining traction internationally resulting in huge support for her and significant disdain for him.

23/2/2024