Transgender activists are protesting the inclusion of an interview with Graham Linehan in tonight's RTÉ Prime Time programme on transgender issues.

Linehan has been heavily criticised for his controversial views on the subject and for his Twitter arguments with trans activists in the UK. But should he be dropped from tonight's programme?

Kate Shanahan, Head of Journalism at Technological University Dublin, says: "The difficulty in this case is that it's an emotional issue, and when you're handling a vulnerable group, you have to be very careful about how you do it."

"If you're going to have somebody on who is a controversialist in their approach to the issue, you have to look at this and say: is a 35-minute programme the one that will be nuanced and in-depth on this?"

Ellen Murray, Policy and Research Officer with Transgender Equality Network Ireland, says the organisation is "surprised and disappointed" by Linehan's inclusion.

"The reality is that trans people in Ireland enjoy widespread support from women's organisations, human rights organisations and right across the political spectrum, and the arguments that this particular guest brings up are just not grounded in facts and research or experiences of trans people."

"The consensus across medical and psychiatric organisations around the world is that affirmation of trans young people is the right thing to do. Being trans is not something that falls from the sky when you're eighteen, it's something that develops in the hearts and minds of young people."

Psychotherapist and author Stella O'Malley presented the Channel 4 documentary Trans Kids and recently spoke about her own childhood experience of gender dysphoria on The Last Word (listen back to Stella's interview here).

She says she fully supports trans rights and the right of adults to "make adult decisions", but feels that Graham Linehan has been badly treated on social media over the last few months.

"I personally don't like the way we tend to jump on the famous person and say: he's not allowed. The media use famous people to get viewers, and that's what's happening here."

To catch the full chat press the play button on the image on the top of the screen