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Most ordinary people in Ireland will know a transgender person in 10 years time, according to author Declan Henry.

Author of the new book 'Trans Voices: Becoming Who You Are', Declan was speaking to Marty Morrissey about the book and the experience of writing it.

Declan said factors such as "major shifts in legislation, the way media portrays [trans issues] is much more favourable and more and more people are coming out as trans," in terms of making transgender issues more open.

He said he became interested in the issue due to not knowing any transgender people himself and wanted to know more.

(Image: Declan Henry Facebook)

He said: "I personally didn't know any transgender people, certainly not directly.

"I discovered that it's not a subject that's extensively written about, nor is it necessarily a subject that's well-researched."

Declan also felt a "personal aspect" in the subject as a gay man and approached writing the book as an ally within the LGBT community.

The book is made of interviews Declan conducted across UK and Ireland, ranging from 19-year olds in Dublin to 79-year olds in Bedforshire.

Though each story is unique, Declan did find a common theme of people "recognising that there was something wrong, that their brain didn't match their physical body, what they were assigned at birth."

"It was certainly something they recognized from childhood, from a very early age, that they felt more comfortable dressed in the opposite sex, playing with toys in the opposite sex."

(Image: Declan Henry Facebook)

Declan also clarified what constituted as transgender, using himself as an example of someone who was assigned male at birth and is quite happy with that compared to a trans woman.

"Initially, she would have been assigned male at birth but, from an early age, they realized that their brain doesn't match the physical body they were born with."

He said non-binary people were in a minority in the transgender community.

He added: "This category consist of people assigned male or female at birth who don't identify as one or, in some cases, they may identify as male and female. In a sense, they aim towards a degree of neutrality, they want to become more androgynous."