Irish artists get some money

According to the NME website,

Artists in Ireland are set to receive €325 per week (£270) as part of a new pilot scheme to support those in the arts.

Under the scheme, around 2000 artists, actors and musicians will get a basic income of £270 a week. Musicians can apply for the funds from April 12 onwards.

The Irish government described it as “a transformative initiative for the arts and creative practice”.

The Taoiseach Micheál Martin said that while artists had gone through a difficult period during the pandemic, “at this time of greatest challenge, their output was never more highly prized”.

He also said there was a need to invest in “that which sustains us”.

Martin added: “Without artists’ dedication to their practice we would be much poorer as a people, and this is what the basic income pilot scheme is about, the recognition of time spent on creative practice.”

The scheme was the main recommendation that came out of the report of the Arts and Culture Recovery Taskforce, which was launched by Minister for the Arts, Catherine Martin in 2020.

Personally I think this raises more questions than it answers. Questions like: how do you qualify? How do you prove you should count as an artist?

Universal basic income, yes. Universal artists income, not so much.