Alison O'Connor: We can have a rational discussion — and still protect trans people

RTÉ was told it had stoked 'the flames of anti-trans rhetoric' and caused 'untold hurt' through Joe Duffy's 'Liveline' show.

What a terrible pity it came to this. Discussions not being had for entirely wrong reasons — festering away for a long time — bursting onto the national stage. The repercussions are really unfortunate.

The trans debate launched on the national talking shop that is Liveline. The RTÉ programme devoted days to this topic, so highly controversial that in recent years to raise concerns in any way would lead to immediate accusations of transphobia. This bullying and utterly totalitarian attachment to a particular ideology was always going to end badly. The surprise is that it did not happen sooner.