Gemma O'Doherty worked for the Irish Independent for 17 years before being dismissed following her investigation of the penalty points scandal. Since then she has worked as an independent journalist on a number of high-profile scandals and particularly on failed murder investigations. On 19 August, she announced her intention to seek nominations to be a candidate in the forthcoming presidential election. 
Amongst other stories, Gemma has investigated the cases of Mary Boyle, a then-seven-year-old missing from Co Donegal since 1977, presumed murdered, and Fr Niall Molloy, who was beaten to death in a savage attack during a house party in 1985. Both cases are suspected to have political connections; the gardaí have failed to pursue leads in the cases, and many media outlets seem reluctant to cover this aspect of the stories.
In our conversation I mentioned her sharing of a video by Jerry Beades; claims that Hillary Clinton conspired to send secret messages to NBC debate host Lester Holt, and tweets featuring a conspiracy theory that Clinton was seriously ill during the 2016 US presidential election, which was fabricated by the Internet Research Agency, an arm of Russian military intelligence.