Covid-19: Irish government pays 'basic income' to artists

A weekly income of €325 (£280) has begun to be paid to 2,000 artists, musicians, writers and performers by the Irish government.

Plans for the Basic Income for the Arts scheme were originally announced by the Irish government in January.

The minister for culture and arts is spending about €25m (£22m) on the income scheme.

Over 9,000 people applied to the scheme and the 2,000 receiving the income were selected anonymously and at random.

Musicians and artists make up the majority of those who will receive the payment for three years.

The Basic Income Scheme for those working in the arts was originally recommended by a taskforce set up by the Irish Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sports and Media, Catherine Martin.

Catherine Martin launched the scheme after artists lost income during the pandemic

The taskforce had been set up to suggest how the arts could recover from the "unprecedented damage" caused by the pandemic.

As in Northern Ireland, arts and entertainment venues in the Republic of Ireland were closed for long periods due to Covid-19 restrictions.

The payment is not means tested so the 2,000 people selected may still be eligible for social welfare payments and will still be able to earn other money from their work.

They will, however, have to take part in a research project which collects data about the impact of the payment.

The Irish government has provided a breakdown of which Irish county the 2,000 people to receive the income live in.

At 764, Dublin has the highest numbers of recipients, followed by Cork (212) and Galway (148).

More than 700 visual artists have been selected to receive the payments, along with 584 musicians, 204 working in film and 184 writers.

About 170 actors and others working in theatre were also selected, along with 32 dancers and choreographers, 13 circus artists and 10 architects.

More than 50 recipients work in the Irish language.

High demand

But demand for the scheme meant that fewer than one in four of those who applied will receive the income.

In a statement, Ms Martin acknowledged that "there will be a lot of disappointed people today who applied and didn't get selected".

She added: "I am very grateful to everyone who took the time to apply and I understand their disappointment."

But she said that the Basic Income for the Arts had the "potential to fundamentally transform how we support the arts and creativity".

"Ireland could lead the way on a new model to support people active in the sector, recognising its importance to all people," she added.