Meet Luke, a typical Multilateralist
Luke, aged 51, is a mid-level public servant in a government department. He lives in Cabra, a traditionally working class suburb on Dublin’s northside, with his wife, Siobhan, who also works fulltime, for a charity. Luke grew up in Walkinstown, a working-class suburb on the other side of the city and studied arts in UCD. The couple have two children who both still live at home; a son, Simon, aged 20, a college student, and a daughter, Sadhbh, who is in Leaving Cert year. Simon is gay.
Luke is thankful they are no longer in negative equity ─ they purchased their home during the Celtic Tiger and are paying off a sizeable mortgage ─ but he is concerned about rising mortgage interest rates and the impact that rising house prices will have on his children’s ability to afford their own home.
Luke is also a writer and musician. He often goes to a public library to read and write. He converted a shed at the back of the house into a home-recording studio. When he was younger, he released a critically acclaimed album that had a modest level of success at home. These days, in his spare time, he focuses more on his writing and has published a well-received collection of short stories. However, he does still play the occasional gig if it’s for a benefit or charity.
Although financially stretched, the family has a good standard of living. They take regular weekend breaks and holidays with friends and family, in Ireland mainly. They also like to travel to music and arts festivals in their reconditioned camper van ─ they went to Glastonbury last year. Luke is still a big gig-goer and uses this interest as a way to meet up with friends, enjoying a drink together before and after. He also attends literature festivals, book launches and readings. Luke volunteers at a local youth centre where he gives guitar lessons and teaches young people how to record and mix tracks using electronic equipment. He gets great satisfaction from volunteering, especially enjoying how he gets to meet young people newly arrived in Ireland or who’ve faced challenges growing up. He also supports his son’s LGBTQ+ activism by campaigning and going to events.
Luke is a big radio listener and tunes into RTÉ Radio 1 on a daily basis, listening to as many of the news and current affairs programmes as he can. Because of his job, he needs to stay up to speed with the latest political events and the public mood. He also watches the daily RTÉ television news to stay abreast of the headline news events of the day and any Ministerial interviews. In the morning, he reads the daily broadsheets online. On his breaks, he reads longer-form news pieces on The Guardian, the New Statesmen and the New York Times to which he subscribes. He also subscribes to some writers on Substack. He listens to podcasts, with ‘The Ezra Klein Show’ and the BBC’s ‘Short History Of’ being particular favourites.
Luke largely doesn’t trust social media as a news source, due to the risk of fake news and misinformation. He prefers to use Facebook to stay in touch with friends and family and Instagram to follow his favourite music artists and writers.
Luke believes that fixing problems at home and abroad isn’t a choice ─ it’s part of the same responsibility. He regularly donates to LGBTQ+ organisations at home and he also has a monthly donation set up with a large overseas development organisation. He made a number of donations to support aid to Gaza.
Quick Look:
Where do we find Luke?
Walking to work, in a public library, at a music gig, at arts festivals throughout the year, Glastonbury, volunteering at a youth centre, listening to a podcast, at literary festivals.
What influences Luke?
TV News (BBC, RTE, Channel 4), family conversations around justice and politics, his friends’ opinions on culture, political parties (SocDems, Labour, People before Profit), Newspapers and Magazines (The Atlantic, The New Republic, The New Yorker, TIME), Podcasts (The Ezra Klein Show, The Long View).
Avenues for engagement
The fact that Luke is very interested in the arts and culture indicates that festivals and events could be a good touchpoint for reaching him, for example through on-site activations, guest speakers or sponsorship at festivals like Forest Fest, All Together Now, Beyond the Pale etc.
Messaging Recommendations to reach Multilateralists like Luke
The fact that Luke is very interested in the arts and culture indicates that festivals and events could be a good touchpoint for reaching him, such as through on-site activations, guest speakers or sponsorship.
For Multilateralists like Luke, we should frame overseas development through: The “public good”, “Shared responsibility”, “Ireland’s role on the world stage”, Human rights-based approaches to development, Protection of civilians in conflict, Minority rights and inclusion, and Gender and LGBTQ+ equality internationally. Showing particularly how international law and norms protect vulnerable people globally should resonate more. We could activate a Multilateralist by putting some agency in their hands, “you can make a difference”.
Avoid NGO jargon, including the term “multilateralist”. Emphasise coordinated action and collaboration between countries and teamwork between countries to make the world safer, fairer, and more stable.
Explore Luke’s narrative more below.
