Tag Archives: Gemma O’Doherty

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Ann Doherty with a picture of, from left, her twin Mary Boyle, brother Patrick and Ann

Gemma O’Doherty reported last month that Ann Doherty believed she had identified a new location in Donegal where she suspects her twin sister Mary Boyle – who vanished in 1977 – may have been buried.

Ms Doherty wrote to Garda Commissoner Noirin O’Sullivan requesting the area to be examined, on foot of new evidence she received last month.

Further to this…

Previously: Mary Boyle case on Broadsheet

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Ann Doherty, the twin sister of murdered schoolgirl Mary Boyle (above), will meet An Taoiseach Enda Kenny in Dail Eireann tomorrow.

The visit is part of her ongoing campaign to find her six-year-old sister’s remains and bring the killer to justice.

Ms Doherty, her identical twin, believes Mary was murdered by somebody known to her because she was going to reveal a terrible secret. This individual has never been arrested.

Ms Doherty also alleges there was political interference in the investigation which has prevented the killer from being brought to justice.

A number of Gardai who worked on the investigation have confirmed that a phone call was made to Ballyshannon Station in the days after Mary’s disappearance requesting that some individuals not be considered suspects.

Ms Doherty will inform the Taoiseach of her belief that the Gardai have protected Mary’s killer for almost 40 years and that during that time he was, and remains, a danger to other children.

Enda Kenny To finally meet sister of murdered schoolgirl (Soundmigration)

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Gemma O’Doherty

The Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission (GSOC) is carrying out a criminal investigation, under Section 98 of the Garda Siochana Act, into complaints made by Gemma O’Doherty, arising from her work as a journalist.

Ms O’Doherty has alleged that she’s been subjected to a campaign of harassment, intimidation, surveillance and endangerment of her personal safety since January 2011.

Cases worked on include Fr Niall Molloy, Shane O’Farrell, Shane Tuohey, the wiping of former Garda Commissioner Martin Callinan‘s penalty points and summonses not being delivered to Fianna Fáil TD Robert Troy, Garda whistleblowers, Limerick’s disappeared, Jim Goonan, Mary Boyle and Traveller children’s names being placed on PULSE.

Ms O’Doherty alleges this campaign began when she first started to publish evidence in relation to the Fr Molloy murder investigation. She believes this Garda action against her is ongoing and that it is being conducted on a covert and unlawful basis.

Ms O’Doherty is alleging that her telephone and email account continue to be interfered with and intercepted unlawfully by members of An Garda Síochána.

(RollingNews.ie)

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Top: Mary Boyle’s sister Ann Doherty (left) and Boyle family friend Margo O’Donnell (right), with unnamed solicitor and journalist Gemma O’Doherty (second right) at Pearse Street Garda Station last night

Further to yesterday’s post concerning Mary Boyle, who disappeared from her grandparents’ farm near Ballyshannon, Co. Donegal on March 18, 1977, the article’s author Gemma O’Doherty spoke to Niall Delaney, on Ocean FM, earlier today.

Ms Doherty told Mr Delaney that the politician who is alleged to have interfered in the case is still alive and that their suspect would confess if questioned.

Niall Delaney: “Mary Boyle, as you know, has been missing 38 years, last seen in Cashelard in Ballyshannon, in March, 1977, yesterday her twin sister Ann went to a Garda station, identifying, she claims, the person that she believes murdered her sister all those years ago. She handed in a formal statement to gardai in Pearse Street in Dublin, claiming the gardai, that she’s begged gardai to take certain actions down the years and she’s been frustrated in her efforts to find Mary’s remains which she believes are buried somewhere in Cashelard in Ballyshannon.
She rejects suggestions that Mary was snatched by a stranger, she says that’s ridiculous. The journalist Gemma O’Doherty accompanied Ann Boyle to the garda station yesterday, she’s been reporting on the case. And Gemma O’Doherty is on the line now, journalist with Broadsheet.ie. Gemma you’ve been following this case. Well you’ve been part and parcel of this case. You were at the garda station yesterday with Ann Boyle, isn’t that right?”

Gemma O’Doherty: “That’s right, yes. There was a very important development in the case of Ireland’s longest missing child Mary Boyle who vanished from her grandparents’ farm near Ballyshannon on March 18, 1977, aged six, and has never been seen since.”

Delaney: “Ann is adamant that she knows who was behind Mary’s murder.”

O’Doherty: “Ann is adamant and she’s adamant her twin sister was killed by somebody known to her. And yesterday Ann was joined by the country singer Margo O’Donnell, who also made a lengthy statement to the gardai in Pearse Street Station in Dublin, alleging the identity of the killer and also alleging that she believes that the gardaí have not investigated this case properly. Both of them pleaded with An Garda Siochana yesterday to arrest the individual that they believe is responsible for Mary Boyle’s disappearance and murder.”

Delaney: “OK, but why, why now? I mean Ann has had 38 years to go to the gardai and identify this person she believes is responsible or has she done that already and has she been ignored?”


O’Doherty: “She was six when she lost, what she calls, her other half. The person who knew her thoughts, who said the same things as her, the person she adored, her little twin sister. So I think to say it was 38 years, it was only in adulthood, when she started to put things together, after all of the trauma that she had endured as a child, that she started to see that it was impossible for a random stranger to stroll onto the bogs of Donegal and snatch her child and she has had a lot of time to rethink this. But more importantly, through the years, as an adult, she has gone to the gardai, she has spoken to them, she has asked them to hear her concerns and she has faced a brick wall on every occasion. She certainly is utterly disillusioned with the gardai in Donegal. As are members of gardai in Donegal who were there at the very start. Very decent, honourable officers who tried to bring Mary’s killer to justice. But were not able to and one of…”

Delaney: “Some of whom…you’ve been talking to some of them, Gemma?”


O’Doherty: “I certainly have and one of them in particular has made a very serious allegation that in the days after the murder that there was political interference in this case.”

Delaney: “That’s huge. I mean if that goes public, that there was political interference of any sort in an investigation as important as this..”

O’Doherty: “Well it is public now. I published it yesterday on Broadsheet and it is also now in the hands of a number of TDs who will be pursuing this. And yes I have been informed, as have Ann Boyle and Margo O’Donnell, and a number of other individuals that there was political interference and a politician interfered to an extent that certain individuals were not to be considered suspects in this case which is truly shocking because we are talking about the murder of a child.”

Delaney: “Absolutely. We can’t push it too much for obvious reasons but would that politician still be alive…”

O’Doherty: “Alive? Yes.”

Delaney: “They are?”

O’Doherty: “Yes.”

Delaney: “Quite shocking stuff. Is anything going…I mean you can’t predict this, Gemma. But do you think anything is going to come of this? We’ve had many false hopes in the Mary Boyle investigation down the years. Is anything going to come from what her sister did yesterday, and indeed Margo.”

O’Doherty: “I know that, and I completely trust the opinion of the senior gardai that I’ve been working with on this case. But also Ann and Margo and other peopled familiar with the situation and it is their belief that if the killer was brought in and properly questioned, that a confession would be forthcoming. And they believe that this individual has never been questioned properly.”

Delaney: “Never been questioned.”

O’Doherty: “That is their belief and certainly not arrested. So again, one has to wonder, I mean, certainly I believe if we were living in a normal democracy that individual would have been brought in last night given that allegations of murder have been made against them. And we see the sort of carry-on that is going on in this country at the moment where people who protest on the street have gardai arriving all hours of the night and day to them. So we’re talking about the most serious crime of all: the murder of a child, an innocent child and yet, here we are 24 hours on nearly, and I certainly haven’t heard about any arrests and we know that a few months ago an individual was arrested in relation to this case who, it would appear, had absolutely nothing to do with it.”

Previously: Mary Boyle And ‘Political Interference’

Mary Boyle’s twin claims “political interference” hindered course of justice (Ocean FM)

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Mary Boyle

Mary Boyle was six years old when she vanished on her grandparents’ remote farm near Ballyshannon, Co Donegal on March 18, 1977.

She remains Ireland’s longest missing child case.

But that may be about to change.

Gemma O’Doherty writes:

The twin sister of Mary Boyle will today make a formal statement to Gardai about the identity of the person she believes murdered her sister.

Ann Doherty will claim Mary was killed by somebody known to her. She says she has been frustrated by an Garda Siochana in her efforts to find Mary’s remains and bring her killer to justice.

Ann Doherty will allege that on a number of occasions she was told the identity of the killer by a person close to her, but neither that person nor the suspect have ever been arrested.

In her statement today, Doherty will make a plea to Gardai to arrest the suspect. She will also state that she was informed by a senior Garda that there was political interference in the case, which she believes prevented Mary’s killer from being brought to justice.

The former officer claims that a politician made contact with Gardai in the days after the child’s murder and made an unusual request in an effort to hinder the investigation. This Garda also believes Mary Boyle may have been sexually assaulted before her death, a fear shared by her sister Ann.

The officer has also said that he was told the identity of the killer by somebody close to Mary on a number of occasions.

In another development, the country singer Margo O’Donnell, sister of Daniel, will visit a Dublin Garda station today to make a formal statement about Mary Boyle’s murder.

Margo, a former neighbour and cousin of the Boyle family, has spent many years searching for the little girl’s remains. She claims that on three separate occasions she was told by a person close to Mary the identity of the killer but says every time she has spoken to Gardai about the case, she has been dismissed. She describes the killing as a ‘massive Garda cover-up.’ Broadsheet has seen witness statements relating to the case, which reveal inconsistencies that have never been reconciled.

Ann Doherty believes that if the person she says killed Mary had been properly investigated and questioned by Gardai, they would have confessed to the killing. She is also certain that the individual can still be brought to justice and the remains of her sister found.

Ann believes her sister is buried somewhere on the 180 acres of farmland in Cashelard, Ballyshannon, once owned by her late grandfather Patrick Gallagher. Some of this land is deep swamp. She rejects suggestions by certain Gardai and reporters that Mary was snatched by a stranger, a claim she describes as ‘ridiculous.’

She says through the years she has begged Gardai to take certain actions. She also says they have refused to speak to her and that their only point of contact with the family is her mother, Ann Boyle.

When Ann Doherty sought an inquest in recent years, she was told that this was not possible as Mary may not be dead. A person is considered to be deceased if they have been missing for more than seven years. Mary disappeared 38 years ago.

Ann Doherty wrote to the Minister for Justice Frances Fitzgerald earlier this year requesting a meeting but this request was not been granted. Ann will attend the Gardai today in the company of her solicitor Darragh Mackin of Kevin Winters Solicitors, a human rights law firm based in Belfast.

More as we get it.

Previously: A Corner Of Ireland

Update:

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statement

From top: Gemma O’Doherty and solicitor Paul Tweed this morning and the statement from Independent News and Media.

Journalist Gemma O’Doherty has settled her action against Independent Newspapers at the Employment Appeals Tribunal this morning following an undisclosed settlement and apology from INM above.

Ms O’Doherty was fired from the irish Independent after doorstepping then Garda Commissioner Martin Callinan.

Previously: Gemma O’Doherty on Broadsheet

Update:

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Statement from Gemma O’Doherty this morning.

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Supporters of former Irish Independent journalist Gemma O’Doherty outside the newspaper’s office on Talbot Street, Dublin 1, on August 27, 2013 – including Limerick-based Catherine Costelloe, a former officer with the London Metropolitan Police, far left, and former Garda John Wilson, far right

Families for Justice write:

Tomorrow, a delegation of families seeking justice for their deceased relatives will visit Stormont Castle to meet senior politicians. The families, who live in the Republic of Ireland, have lost loved ones in violent circumstances – in two cases, their own children. They believe An Garda Síochána failed to investigate the deaths properly. They have also been unable to get a meeting with Taoiseach Enda Kenny.

The families will be accompanied by Garda whistleblower John Wilson and journalist Gemma O’Doherty. This is the first phase in a new international awareness-raising campaign about cases of alleged Garda wrongdoing which will be taken to the European Parliament and the United Nations, among other institutions, in 2015.

The families who will visit Stormont include Lucia O’Farrell, mother of Shane who was killed by a hit-and-run driver in Co Monaghan in 2011; Anne and Eamonn Tuohey, parents of Shane who died in Clara, Co Offaly in 2002; Cyril Goonan, brother of Jim who was killed in Birr, Co Offaly in 2002; and Ann Doherty, twin sister of Mary Boyle (6) who went missing in Donegal in 1977.

Also joining the delegation is Limerick-based Catherine Costelloe, a former officer with the London Metropolitan Police who, since returning to Ireland, has spent many years searching for people who have been murdered but whose remains are missing.

Brian Sheridan, a former Director of Elections for Fine Gael in Laois/Offaly, who has been at the forefront of the justice campaign for Fr Niall Molloy, will also attend. The delegation will meet senior politicians from each of the political parties in Northern Ireland including the DUP, Sinn Féin, the UUP, the SDLP and the Alliance Party. The delegation will arrive at Stormont on Thursday at 11am.

Previously: Going North

Receipt Of Indifference

Difficult To Quash

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Former Irish Independent journalist, Gemma O’Doherty, and former garda John Wilson outside the Employment Appeals Tribunal last May

There you go now.

Previously: Going To Work

No Justice Yet

Not Going Away

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Former Garda Commissioner Martin Callinan, top, and PULSE records showing his penalty points for speeding terminated

In April 2013 Irish Independent journalist Gemma O’Doherty broke the story of how former Garda Commissioner Martin Callinan had penalty points for speeding quashed. Ms O’Doherty lost her job soon after.

Further to this, Sinn Féin TD Padraig MacLochlainn addressed Justice Minister Frances Fitzgerald in the Dáil last week about ‘new developments’ concerning Mr Callinan’s penalty points being quashed.

Mr MacLochlainn spoke about these developments during the second stage debate on the Garda Síochána (Amendment) (No.3) Bill 2014.

“Consider the issue of accountability concerning questions. It has been brought to my attention by journalist Gemma O’Doherty in recent days that she has reported that former Garda Commissioner Mr. Martin Callinan had penalty points for speeding terminated. He confirmed this in an article in the Irish Independent. Ms O’Doherty asserts she was fired a number of weeks after that story was published, and she is taking a number of legal cases in regard to that.”

“She has advised me she has come into possession of new information. On that basis, she submitted a number of questions to the Acting Garda Commissioner, which the latter has refused to answer, as is evident from the e-mail. The questions, which Ms O’Doherty sent to the Minister also, are as follows.”

“What was the basis for the termination of Mr. Callinan’s speeding fine? There was no indication of the reason on the PULSE printout.
Why was Mr. Callinan not using an official Garda car on the day he was caught speeding given that he was on official Garda business?
Did he drive to work on the day he incurred his speeding ticket?
What time did he start work that day?
Was the meeting he was speeding to pre-planned?
Was this meeting recorded in his diary? Was he aware of this meeting?
Was anyone with Mr. Callanan in his car when he was caught speeding?
Was a written report made of his meeting? At what time did the meeting begin and end? What was the location of the meeting? Did Mr. Callanan return to Garda headquarters after the meeting? Did he claim mileage or subsistence allowance for the day in question? Were there any other occasions on which Mr. Callanan used his private car for Garda business?”

“All of these questions are now on the record of the Dáil. Since the Acting Garda Commissioner has not provided the information, I ask that the Minister provide it. It is a very serious matter and there is considerable public interest in it. I hope the Minister can obtain the answers to the questions that the Acting Garda Commissioner has refused to give.”

Ms Fitzgerald did not respond.

Previously:  To Protect And Swerve

Objection Overruled

Commissioner had penalty points erased while on duty (Gemma O’Doherty, Irish Independent, April 19, 2013)

Transcript via Kildare Street

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