EU Currents: Ireland’s Helping Hand For Artists

A Lifeline For Art

Ireland’s Department of Culture, Communications and Sport is set to implement a permanent basic income program after trialing the program for the last three years. The scheme will give out weekly installments of €325, with the annual total adding up to €16,900. 2,000 artists will be selected through an application process, and the payments will last for three years. 

Last October, the department interviewed more than 17,000 respondents about the pilot program. More than 97% of the individuals surveyed strongly supported making the pilot program permanent. Of those respondents, 7,600 were members of the public and 7,400 responses were artists that have not received payment from the program.

Additional metrics of the survey indicated that 47% of respondents believed that recipients of basic income should be prioritized by need, 37.5% said that recipients should be selected on artistic merit and 14% believed random selection for recipients. 

“This is a major milestone for the arts in Ireland and how we support the arts,” Minister of Culture, Communications and Sport Patrick O’Donovan said. “I am particularly pleased that the research my department conducted provided the Government with a clear evidence base upon which to make that decision. Ireland is a global leader in artist support because of the BIA (Basic Income for the Arts).” 

Research conducted during the pilot program revealed that artists who received support in this manner felt more insulated from financial insecurity and thus were able to devote more time to their art, produce more work, and experience reduced anxiety.

The Impact Of The Pandemic

The initial push for a basic income program for artists emerged in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. Once mitigation measures came into force, it was estimated that art-related organizations would lose €2.9 million in income. Individual artists were projected to accrue €2.5 million in personal losses. 

Though Ireland provided support through the Pandemic Unemployment Payment (PUP) program, artists faced difficulties accessing these benefits as they were self-employed. 

When performance and exhibition venues began to reopen, many still operated under curfews and capacity limits. Thus, the arts sector continued to navigate an unforeseen and unfamiliar environment.

While initiatives to shift many performing arts to virtual performances were attempted, losing access to a full live audience proved to be too much of a financial barrier for many performers to overcome. Additionally, lack of access to high-quality internet diminished the amount of potential virtual audience members.

Minister Josepha Madigan secured an increase to the Arts Council budget by €20 million in June 2020, which was then increased by €5 million to offset cost overruns related to pandemic mitigation measures. In the government’s 2021 budget, a total of €130 million was allocated to the Arts Council, an annual increase of more than €50 million.

While the increase of funds was welcomed by many, there were still systemic issues when it came to how the government supported the artistic community. For instance, Ireland’s 1951 Arts Act, which has been amended twice in its existence (1973 and 2003), makes no mention of how artists should be supported, especially when it comes to pursuing their livelihoods without becoming destitute.

Before this movement, the Arts Council had not yet singled out a method to ensure artists’ economic wellbeing. Instead, responsibility was passed to organizations supported by the Arts Council to ensure that artists were properly supported.

Looking back on the issues of the pandemic, which drove the basic income initiative, many have questioned whether the pandemic response made working as an artist harder, or if the unprecedented conditions highlighted the precarious situations that many artists may find themselves facing on a day-to-day basis.

Basic Income As A Creative Tool

Elinor O’Donavan worked part-time as a receptionist in Cork, doing what she could to support her work as a visual artist. She was a part of the initial 2,000 member cohort that was part of the BIA pilot.

O’Donavan stated that before the BIA program, “I had some funding from the Arts Council, so I had a little taste of knowing that it’s possible to make work and be paid as an artist.”

During assessments of O’Donavan’s cohort, compared with a control group that did not receive any benefits, those who collected benefits reported spending 11 more hours weekly on their creative pursuits along with reporting an “increased ability to sustain themselves through arts work alone.” 

Overall, the assessment of Ireland’s basic income scheme is overwhelmingly positive. More than €88 million has been injected into the Irish economy during the pilot program. A long-term execution of the program on a permanent basis will surely meet or exceed those totals.

Similar programs are now being looked at in other nations, though they are mostly funded through non-profit organizations.

A press release from the National Campaign for the Arts committee stated that “Ireland can become a world leader through this unique scheme that ultimately benefits the whole of society through supporting our continued artistic excellence on the world stage.”