Tiernan Brady was the political director of the “yes” campaign during the Irish referendum on same-sex marriage. With the government pushing ahead with plans for a plebiscite on the issue, Brady is in Australia to help advise local advocates.

Brady tells Michelle Grattan one of the most important aspects of the Irish referendum was that they recognised that it should always be about “a real person”.

“It shouldn’t be a set of angry debates and loud interviews where people shout at each other … what it needed to be was friendly conversations, engaging; much more about having conversations at the dinner table, on the street and in the supermarket than in parliament or on ABC or on the radio,” he says.

Michelle Grattan does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond the academic appointment above.