The basic income scheme for the arts changed my life

The guaranteed €325 a week allowed me to pay myself a living wage to sit at my desk and write my two novels. Now we're asking the Government to retain and expand the scheme

President Michael D Higgins and his wife Sabina host Culture Night in Áras an Uachtaráin, joined by Garry Hynes, co-founder of the Druid Theatre company, and current artistic director and actress Marie Mullen. Picture: Tony Maxwell

By now, most people know about, or are at least aware of, the Basic Income for the Arts scheme. Launched as a pilot project in 2022, the scheme paid a weekly wage of €325 to 2,000 practitioners in the arts over a three-year period. 

After years of underinvestment and decades of lip service, the primary objective of the pilot scheme was to support artists in dealing with financial precarity and to ensure there wasn’t a mass exodus from the sector after their near extinction during the covid years.