A pioneering TV producer and environmentalist with Donegal roots been chosen as one of Vogue Magazine's most powerful and influential women of 2018. 

Orla Doherty has joined a prestigious list which includes JK Rowling, Amal Clooney, Sinead Burke, Dua Lipa and other powerful shapers of the world today.

Orla Doherty – Producer. Photographer: James Honeyborne

Orla has worked on David Attenborough’s documentary series Blue Planet II since 2013. She produced two episodes of the most recent series, including the final ‘Our Blue Planet‘ film that has influenced monumental changes in the way we look at plastic.

The Vogue list has commended Orla’s ‘soft power’ to change the world:

“On a Sunday night, as more than 10 million people watched the finale of the BBC’s Blue Planet II, an alarming picture emerged of the sheer scale of damage that plastic was causing to our oceans.

“The episode – produced by Doherty, a specialist in deep-sea filming – had an instant effect on public consciousness. With campaigns for reusable coffee cups and against plastic straws, she and her team are shifting our behaviour.”

With family origins from the Donegal coast, Orla has said the sea is in her DNA.

Before joining Blue Planet II, Orla had spent ten years at sea studying the coral reefs of the Pacific Ocean. Her experience in producing BBC and Channel 4 shows combined with her science background led her to join the ground-breaking team of Blue Planet.

Since then, Orla has spent 500 hours at depths of 1,000 metres in three oceans as Producer of The Deep and filmed scientists at the frontline of ocean discoveries from Indonesia to the Arctic Circle for Our Blue Planet.

Another leading Irish woman on the Vogue 25 list is Sinead Burke. The writer and academic is famed for her TED talk on ‘Why design should include everyone’.

Sinead was born with achondroplasia, a genetic bone growth disorder. She is a 3ft 5in activist who is challenging the fashion world to cater to disabled people.