When piloted, initiative that provided €325 a week to eligible artists recouped more than its net cost, study shows
Ireland is creating a scheme that will give artists a weekly income in the hope of reducing their need for alternative work and boosting their creativity.
The Basic Income for the Arts (BIA) initiative will provide €325 (£283) a week to 2,000 eligible artists based in the Republic of Ireland in three-year cycles.
The culture minister, Patrick O’Donovan, said at the launch in Dublin on Tuesday that it was the first scheme of its kind in the world. “This is a gigantic step forward that other countries are not doing,” he said.
The scheme was “a start” and hopefully would be expanded, O’Donovan said. “For the first time in the history of the state we now have, on a permanent basis, a basic income structure that will really revolutionise and, in many ways, set Ireland apart from other countries with regard to how we value culture and creativity.”
