Ian O'Doherty

Ian O'Doherty (born November 1971) is an opinion columnist. He works for the Irish Independent, where the Press Ombudsman had upheld criticism of several of his articles. He previously worked for the Evening Herald and Hot Press.

Ian O'Doherty
Born1971 (age 51–52)
Coombe Women & Infants University Hospital,
Dublin, Ireland
Occupation(s)Columnist, writer, speaker
TelevisionThe Late Late Show,
Seoige,
The Frontline
Now It's Personal
Today with Maura and Daithi
SpouseMarried
ChildrenNone

Early life

O'Doherty was born in Dublin, Ireland, at the Coombe Women & Infants University Hospital in November of 1971.[1] His parents were both in their teens and he was the first of his mother's progeny.[1] His father, who had been living in London, opted to stay with his mother in Ireland and to marry her.[1] He became a communist but, after spending time in Romania, he ceased to be.[1]

O'Doherty was an only child until the age of fifteen when his twin brother and sister were born.[2] Though he is on good terms with them, he credits their arrival with causing him to come to the decision that he would never have children of his own.[2]

O'Doherty's parents both died prematurely, an event he associates with the trauma they endured.[1] His Nana (maternal grandmother), a devout Catholic, was another early influence on his life.[1]

Work

O'Doherty began working as a music reviewer during his teens.[3] He has also reviewed books and was working on a response to the latest Salman Rushdie novel on 11 September 2001.[4]

O'Doherty formerly worked for the Evening Herald[5] and Hot Press.[6] He currently works for the Irish Independent. His mid-week "iSpy" column consists of current affairs articles blended with shock-jock opinions. On Fridays he publishes the column "The World according to Ian O'Doherty". On Saturdays he has a column (formerly called "Agenda", now "Last call") on the back page of the Review supplement that comes with that day's edition. He began working full-time from home in about 2016.[7] His columns in the Irish Independent have led to multiple letters of complaint[8][9] and suggestions from readers.[10]

Reception

In 2010, the editor of Gay Community News criticised a column written by O'Doherty which referred to gay people as "sexual deviants".[11]

In a February 2011 column, he called for so-called "junkies" to be sterilised in the belief that it would be preferable if such people did not reproduce.[12] He made a distinction between those drug users with addictions and those termed "junkies", expressing sympathy for anyone with a relative who had developed an addiction and writing: "An addict is someone who has developed a habit that they're trying to shake. A junkie, on the other hand, is the one who breaks into his own brother's house and steals stuff; a junkie is the one who will rob you blind and sell valuables that you have worked and saved for and then sell it for a tenner bag of smack".[12] After criticism from an international organisation and two local campaign groups, which requested a formal apology and right of reply, the Irish Independent offered them their right of replay but they refused it.[13] The Press Ombudsman criticised the article for breaching the rule against anything "intended or likely to cause... hatred against an individual or group".[13] The country's Press Ombudsman had never previously declared drug users "to be an identifiable group, entitled to protections against prejudicial reporting in the media" and it also may never have previously occurred worldwide.[14]

The Press Ombudsman upheld a complaint against O'Doherty in January 2014 for a column in which he described members of the Roma community as "a parasitic, ethnic underclass". The ombudsman said the article contained "a number of emphatic generalisations about beggars of Roma origin that, in his opinion, were clearly capable of or intended to cause grave offence".[15]

In October 2015, the Press Ombudsman upheld a further complaint for a column in which he described the Palestinian Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement as being "loud and shrill in their calls for a complete boycott of individual Israelis, regardless of their own political affiliation" and advocating "blanket boycotts of anything involving Jews." The Ombudsman stated that "the article was factually inaccurate in relation to the two statements" and that "BDS campaigns for a widespread boycott of Israeli institutions and organisations. It does not campaign for a boycott of all Israeli citizens. Neither does BDS campaign for a boycott of 'anything involving Jews'. Its campaign, though widespread in its targets, is limited to a boycott of Israeli State institutions as well as economic, cultural, sporting and academic organisations. It does not extend, as the author claimed, to 'anything involving Jews'."[16]

In November 2015, when appearing on Newstalk he said that supporters of Liverpool Football Club "seem to go through so many commemorations of disasters and deaths that they should have just had a black armband just as part of their regulation kit".[17] The presenter interrupted to point out that the club had gone through an "horrendous event", O'Doherty tried to justify his comments that as a Manchester United fan he "is not going to pass on the opportunity to have a go at them".[17] A listener told the centre-left local newspaper Liverpool Echo that "As a Liverpool fan of over forty years I was angered by these comments about Liverpool's grieving of Hillsborough. I don’t think the journalist in question should simply be allowed to mock so openly the families of the 96, the club, its fans and the annual commemeration of the tragedy. The comments are nothing short of appalling."[17]

Politics

O'Doherty often writes about his political views or speaks about them on media platforms or at public events. He identifies as a libertarian.[18] He has described Nick Griffin of the British National Party (BNP) as that party's "odious leader".[19] He has criticised conspiracy theories, including those involving the September 11 attacks and COVID-19.[4]

He supported the presence of US troops in the Middle East, equating opposition to this with "cowardice".[20] However, during the 1980s, he attended countess demonstrations outside the U.S embassy in protest at the Central American death squads and the bombing of Tripoli and Benghazi.[21] In 2021, he described his support for the 2003 invasion of Iraq as a "mistake… As far as I, and many other observers, were concerned, this was case of stopping a mad man [Saddam Hussein] from committing further genocide… As history has shown us, however, [the Americans] just made the situation a hell of a lot worse. Far from protecting the Marsh Arabs and the Kurds, they left them to be slaughtered".[22] The 2011 military intervention in Libya he described as "calamitous" and "Hillary Clinton's review of the Libyan fiasco: 'We came. We saw. He died.'" as "obnoxious".[22] O'Doherty also retains a distaste for the death penalty, particularly in cases where the target is mentally ill, and has criticised both Donald Trump and Bill Clinton for their support of capital punishment.[23] He has described George W. Bush's so-called axis of evil as a "ludicrous" concept.[24]

He voted in favour of the thirty-fourth Amendment of the Constitution of Ireland permitting same-sex marriage in the 2015 referendum, describing it as "a seminal day in Irish history… we should remember that, incredibly, homosexuality was actually crime in this country until 1993".[25] He voted in favour due to "the explicit discrimination against a section of society which needed to be redressed".[25] He supported of the thirty-sixth Amendment of the Constitution of Ireland to Repeal the Eighth in the 2018 referendum on the basis that "none of us has the moral authority to tell a woman what to do with her body".[25]

He criticised David Beckham following reports in February 2021 that the former footballer had signed a £10 million deal to become brand ambassador for the tiny Middle Eastern country of Qatar. O'Doherty said he had refused two similar offers to fly to Qatar at the start of 2020 (before the COVID-19 pandemic struck), citing the country's "appalling human rights records", particularly its persecution of gay people and treatment of women "like less than second-class citizens".[3]

O'Doherty believes anti-discrimination laws should be removed. Commenting on Newstalk he said "the equality laws should be scrapped".[26] During the COVID-19 pandemic, O'Doherty wrote a column disagreeing with and discouraging the boycott of Chinese businesses, and noted the hard work ethic present among Chinese people.[27] He is a supporter of a person's right to protest.[21]

Personal life

He is married,[18] but has described himself as "utterly useless at being a bloke… spectacularly inept at performing all but the most basic functions".[28] His wife is from County Mayo.[29]

He lives in Dublin.[30]

O'Doherty has spoken during at least one Atheist Ireland meeting. He expressed "genuine sympathy for the decent, honest Catholics" affected by the publication of the Mother and Baby Homes Commission of Investigation's final report.[1] In around 2010 or 2011, he was approached to present an RTÉ documentary on Muslims.[18] O'Doherty decided to work on the project despite opposition from his employer (the Irish Independent newspaper), as well as his wife, brother, sister and others he knew.[18] The documentary, Now It's Personal, was aired in November 2011 and featured O'Doherty visiting a Dublin mosque.[5][18] He described his motivation as being based on the wish "to meet the average Muslim Joe and thrash things out with him" and "to learn a bit about him" and stated that he left "with a better distinction between the ordinary Muslim and the ones who want to establish a world Caliphate".[18]

References
  1. O'Doherty, Ian (16 January 2021). "There is plenty of blame to go around, but the church must pay". Irish Independent. As far as I recall — she's dead now, so I can't get proper verification — she was either 16 or 17… Herself and my Da, who was also a teenager, decided to get married — to prevent her being sent to a mother and baby home… he could have gone back to London where he had been living… But my Da, who is also dead now, was a stand-up guy even as a teenager and that decision to stick by his woman and do the decent thing probably saved both my mother and myself from ending up in one of those internment camps… My Nana was a stubborn and independent woman, perfectly indicative of the strength that working-class women at the time needed to possess if they were going to make it through the day. I like to think, and hope, that she would never have sentenced her youngest daughter to the misery of one of those places. But she was also a devout Catholic so I'll never know for sure… I'm still not entirely sure if my parents ever recovered from the experience. My father became an ardent communist — before we went to Romania and saw the reality of communism, after which he turned his back on the movement… It was a happy house and I was lucky to have them as parents, but there was always a lingering sense of trauma in the background which I'm convinced contributed to both of them dying an early age and leaving myself, my brother and sister without parents… In the interests of fairness, I feel genuine sympathy for the decent, honest Catholics whose hearts are breaking at these latest revelations.
  2. O'Doherty, Ian (30 January 2021). "Staying child-free has never seemed such a wise choice". Irish Independent. …the arrival of a twin brother and sister… completely turned my otherwise tranquil life upside down. Don't get me wrong, I loved them then and love them now… it wasn't all bad, of course… Yet I became a dab hand at changing nappies… So I've certainly done more than my fair share of messy bums and dirtier diapers. But it certainly cured me of any desire to ever have kids of my own.
  3. O'Doherty, Ian (20 February 2021). "Now that's what I call good news! 80s music helps reduces stress". Irish Independent. I've always been a music nut. I started in journalism as a ridiculously enthusiastic teenage reviewer and music was my entire life… Last year, before the world stopped turning, I received two offers to fly to Qatar for luxury junkets. I turned them both down. Section titled "Gay icon Becks turns his back on his fans by shilling for Qatar" at bottom of this column for his thoughts on Beckham's deal with Qatar.
  4. O'Doherty, Ian (11 September 2021). "I'll never forget my trip into 9/11's bleak aftermath". Irish Independent. …it gave rise to a new breed of conspiracy theorists who are still with us today. By the time I went back to New York a year later, they had grown in number and gathered every day to taunt the grieving relatives who had set up a permanent vigil [at the World Trade Center site]. I would bet my bottom dollar that everyone[sic] of those callous idiots is now involved in the anti-vax movement, and whatever other spurious conspiracy theory they can conjure.
  5. Lawlor, David (15 November 2011). "Herald scribe spends a week with Islamic community". Evening Herald. Retrieved 15 November 2011. Former Herald and now Irish Independent columnist Ian O'Doherty, known for his controversial opinions on the country's growing Muslim population, spends a week living among the Islamic community.
  6. O'Doherty, Ian (14 April 2010). "Um, a slight flaw in that thesis…". Irish Independent. Archived from the original on 16 April 2010. Former Hot Press journalist Declan Lynch has a new book out about the Charlton years… Now, we're always told that men can't multi-task, but as a junior contemporary of Lynch at Hot Press during that period I can certainly assure the reviewer that football, particular our on-pitch exploits with Hot Press Monchengladbach, occupied as much of our time as the latest Pixies album.
  7. O'Doherty, Ian (27 June 2020). "Working from home seems great now — but wait until November". Irish Independent. Retrieved 27 June 2020. After more than 20 years slaving over a hot keyboard in various newsrooms, I started to work from home on a full-time basis about four years ago.
  8. Hughes, Michael (3 May 2005). "Disgusted by Ian's comments". Irish Independent.
  9. McCabe, Ciaran (14 December 2005). "O'Doherty on that march". Irish Independent.
  10. Glennon, Micil (17 September 2008). "Ian O'Doherty is just unelectable". Irish Independent.
  11. "Homosexuality = Bestiality says Ian O'Doherty". GCN. 28 April 2010. Archived from the original on 7 February 2011. Retrieved 21 May 2011.
  12. O'Doherty, Ian (18 February 2011). "Sterilising junkies may seem harsh, but it does make sense" (PDF). Irish Independent. Retrieved 18 February 2011.
  13. O'Brien, Carl (14 June 2011). "Press body upholds 'vermin' complaint". The Irish Times. Retrieved 14 June 2011. The article by the newspaper's columnist Ian O'Doherty was headlined "Sterilising junkies may seem harsh, but it does make sense" and commented favourably on a suggestion by a doctor that such people should be sterilised.
  14. Bingham, Tim (2012). "Irish Press Ombudsman upholds complaint from coalition of drug services" (PDF). Human Rights and Drugs. Vol. 2, no. 1. Archived from the original (PDF) on 8 October 2013.
  15. Hennessy, Michelle. "Ombudsman upholds complaint about article on 'parasitic' Roma beggars". TheJournal.ie.
  16. "Press watchdog vindicates BDS movement over "factually inaccurate" Indo piece". Ireland Palestine Solidarity Campaign. 27 October 2015.
  17. Thomas, Joe (9 November 2015). "Journalist claims Liverpool kit should feature permanent black armband". Liverpool Echo. Retrieved 9 November 2015.
  18. O'Doherty, Ian (25 November 2011). "So have I changed my mind after spending a week with Muslims". Irish Independent. Archived from the original on 28 November 2011. My friends simply saw it as an opportunity for the notoriously liberal and PC RTE to stitch-up the right-wing columnist (for the record, I'm a Libertarian rather than simply right-wing, but that seems to be a concept that remains alien in Ireland)… steer well clear of the internet and the blogosphere, where anonymous cowards hide behind a nickname and spew venomous bile [such as] the guy who said on one online forum that he was really happy my parents are dead…
  19. O'Doherty, Ian (22 May 2021). "Pyromaniac Harry is burning bridges on both sides of the Atlantic". Irish Independent. A few years ago, the BNP and its odious leader, Nick Griffin, were beginning to make electoral progress. Griffin to the fury of liberals, was invited on to the BBC's Question Time — and he promptly tanked. He was unable to withstand the barrage of facts laid out in front of him and just sat there, sweating coldly. It was the end of Griffin and the end of the BNP. You see? That's because good ideas always beat bad ones and the more you suppress the bad ones, the more they get to flourish in the undergrowth. Section titled "We may not like sale of SS poster but it doesn't mean the Nazis didn't exist" at bottom of this column for his thoughts on Griffin and the BNP.
  20. O'Doherty, Ian (26 November 2007). "Abuse and slander of US troops is cowardice". Irish Independent. Retrieved 26 November 2007.
  21. O'Doherty, Ian (6 June 2020). "Black Lives demo was a lockdown mistake, but protests are still vital". Irish Independent. Retrieved 6 June 2020. Back in the 1980s… I went on numerous demos to the [U.S.] embassy to protests against American foreign policy in Central America and their bombing of Tripoli and Benghazi… The kids who took to the streets on Monday were simply following in a long tradition of protests... You could argue its none of our business but… I didn't feel that way about the death squads in Central America… the right to peaceful protests forms a crucial foundation for any democracy… We're lucky to live in a society where people feel they can safely protest… It's a hell of a lot better than the alternative.
  22. O'Doherty, Ian (4 September 2021). "Joe Biden is now the embodiment of US decline". Irish Independent. Similarly, their intervention in Libya with the goal of ousting Gaddafi has turned out to be calamitous… I always thought that the most obnoxious thing any American politician has said in the last 20 years was Hillary Clinton's review of the Libyan fiasco: 'We came. We saw. He died.' But as bad as Clinton's smug mockery may have been, Joe Biden has, in the last few days, utterly surpassed her hubris and arrogance… [referring] to their botched evacuation as an 'extraordinary success'… The sight of one of al Qaeda's main leaders returning to Afghanistan and receiving a hero's welcome from his Taliban supporters sent a chill down my spine.
  23. O'Doherty, Ian (2 January 2021). "Helen McEntee's hate speech legislation would turn morons into martyrs". Irish Independent. Retrieved 2 January 2021. But as he cleans his desk in the Oval Office and prepares to vacate the premises he has embarked on the most shameful course of action of his tenure. Trump has revived the dormant policy of federal executions [regarding Lisa Montgomery]… It reminds me of Bill Clinton's most despicable act. When running for election, he returned to Arkansas to sign the death warrant for Ricky Ray Rector, a career criminal who was brain damaged… the death penalty is an obscenity that has no place in a civilised country. Section titled "Trump's killing spree is an absolute abomination that shames the US" at bottom of this column for his thoughts on the death penalty.
  24. O'Doherty, Ian (1 May 2021). "I want my idols to entertain me, not lecture me on fashionable morals". Irish Independent. There was a glimmer of hope for the toppling of this despicable regime around the turn of the century… Then, George W Bush included Iran in his ludicrous 'axis of evil'. All the protests stopped, due to a mixture of understandable patriotism and heavy crackdowns from the government in Tehran. Now Iran gets to sit on the broard of a commission dedicated to 'promoting women's equality'. Section titled "Iran deciding women's [sic] equality? Yeah, that makes perfect sense" at bottom of this column for his thoughts on Iran and George W Bush.
  25. "Referendums have changed the law, but not our politics". Irish Independent. 30 May 2020. Retrieved 30 May 2020.
  26. "The Right Hook – 9th July 2014 Part 2". Newstalk. Retrieved 9 July 2014.
  27. O'Doherty, Ian (29 February 2020). "Panic or prudence? Coronavirus is bringing out the inner eejit". Irish Independent. Retrieved 29 February 2020.
  28. "My alternative Leaving Cert courses would start with the perfect steak". Irish Independent. 16 May 2020.
  29. O'Doherty, Ian (4 July 2020). "Staycation or vacation? On second thoughts, I'll just stay indoors". Irish Independent. Retrieved 4 July 2020. No offence to the people of Mayo – and being married to one of them, I know how quickly they can take offence – but nobody goes to that county for the sunshine.
  30. "We can wave goodbye to the traditional pub". Irish Independent. 8 August 2020. Frankly, and I say this as someone who lives in Dublin, it would have made more sense to delay the capital's boozers reopening and allow the rural pubs to operate.
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