A GoFundMe page established to assist a Kingscourt woman who is taking legal proceedings against Gemma O'Doherty over the use of an image of her deceased son has raised 20,000 euros to date.
Edel Campbell launched High Court proceedings against Ms O'Doherty last week after an image of her son, Diego Gilsenan, was used in a photo montage in The Irish Light, of which Ms O'Doherty is the publisher.
The County Cavan woman is seeking an injunction to prevent O’Doherty using her son’s image on any medium.
Diego Gilsenan who was 18 died by suicide in August 2021 and his photograph was one of 42 images included in the montage, with the paper claiming the deaths of those pictured were linked to the Covid-19 vaccine and the lockdown.
Diego's mother, Edel Campbell has now lodged proceedings in the High Court.
In a statement issued to Northern Sound News, principal solicitor with Mulholland Law, Ciaran Mulholland said: "These proceedings have been reluctantly brought by the plaintiff, however given the continuing conduct of Ms. O'Doherty as the publisher of The Irish Light newspaper our client felt she had no alternative.
"For any parent to lose a child to suicide is horrific, however for Ms. O'Doherty to sensationalise the unfortunate death of Diego Gilsenan with inflammatory rhetoric, unfounded conspiracies and the unauthorised and misappropriate use of our client's son's image is utterly shameful.
Ciaran Mulholland added that "It was hoped by our client that a compassionate approach may have been adopted by Ms. O'Doherty and that she refrain from the exploitation of her son's image and tragedy for her own purposes and gender, however this did not materialise and all please have been ignored.
