Mick Clifford: When the gender debate becomes louder than the people it affects

As Ireland’s gender debate grows louder, compassion risks being lost for the small number of people most affected

The compassion that helped drive the marriage equality referendum may have been forgotten by some who espouse a newer gender orthodoxy. And many of those opposed to the Gender Recognition Act seem similarly bereft of compassion. Picture: Paul Faith/AFP/Getty

Last Saturday, a conference of over 200 people, mostly women, took place in a Dublin city centre hotel. The event in The Alex was organised by a group called Wicklow Women 4 Women.

They had a range of speakers, including former RTÉ reporter Paddy O’Gorman, journalist Brenda Power, psychotherapist Stella O’Malley, and Independent Ireland TD, Ken O’Flynn.