Irish government to award ‘basic income’ to 2,000 artists

Approximately 2,000 artists, actors, musicians and other performers are set to be paid a basic income by the Irish government for three years.

A collective of hospitality minds has now formed and collaborated on how the Basic Income for the Arts scheme will run has opened.

The scheme is for a specific number of people working in the arts with a weekly payment so they can pursue their creative work and maintain a form of income.

A basic payment of €10.50 (£8.75) an hour is suggested in the consultation. The sum is still yet to be agreed upon.

Northern Ireland has seen many of its venues close their doors, and the Republic Of Ireland has followed suit in the wake of COVID-19 restrictions.

Entertainment and arts have been left behind. This task force has been put in place by the Irish minister for tourism, culture, arts, Gaeltacht, sports and media, Catherine Martin. The main aim is to help the sector recover from ‘unprecedented damage caused by the illness.

Its top recommendation was to pilot a basic income scheme for “a three-year period in the in the arts, culture, audio-visual and live performance and events sectors”.

Ms Martin previously said that the Irish government was committing about €25m (£20.87m) to the scheme and it would be up and running in early 2022.

More details have now been provided in the consultation which opened on Thursday and runs until the 27th of January.

In a statement, Ms Martin called the initiative a “once-in-a-generation policy intervention”.