The Irish Writers Union welcomes the decision by the government to extend and make permanent the Basic Income for Artists’ Scheme. This is a great leap forward, and we are proud to be writers in a country that recognises the immense value that writers and other artists bring to the lives of Irish citizens and people all over the world, as well as the strong economic value of supporting creatives in this way.
We were delighted with the vocal support of the Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht and Media, Patrick O’Donovan for the BIA scheme after the publication of the report on the pilot programme. It was clear from that report that the pilot scheme had not only worked but had exceeded expectations for those who are not involved in the creative industries.
Those of us who are artists know how valuable our output is for healthy society as a whole, but also how difficult it is to survive as a creative in a country with rising costs of living. Ours is a world where those in the creative industries constantly put in more hours for less pay than in other industries.
The arts in Ireland need to be accepted as an investment in our infrastructure. Only by doing this can we ensure creative excellence continues.
Economically, the cost-benefit analysis of the scheme by the Department of Culture found that for every 1 euro invested by the Government in the Basic Income for the Arts pilot scheme, the artists contributed 1.39 euro to the economy.
That’s a better rate than any bank investment – so let’s see more of it.
This reflects both economic and wellbeing benefits from the program.
The Irish Writers Union is also proud to be one of the bodies recognised by the government to whom membership was one of the requirements of the pilot scheme. However, there is only an indication of a possible 10% increase in the roll out while more than 8,000 artists applied and were deemed eligible for the pilot scheme.
All of them are, presumably, still eligible. 2,000 got on the pilot scheme, 6,000 did not. The Irish Writers Union would like to see a time when all qualifying artists could receive the Basic Income for Artists.
In the meantime, there is widespread concern within the community regarding how the scheme is to be rolled out. Who will qualify, how will they be assessed? How will the final recipients be chosen?
It is critical that the roll out is done in the fairest possible way and with complete transparency and we would like to ensure that writers are adequately reflected in further phases of the scheme.
As a representative body, we were shocked to learn that there were no representatives of writers’ organisations (e.g., Irish Writers Union, Words Ireland, Irish Writers Centre or the Writers Guild of Ireland), nor any freelance writers, listed on the taskforce behind the pilot scheme. This needs to be remedied immediately.
The Irish Writers Union has a very valid concern that the lack of representation of writers in any taskforce primed with designing the next stage of the Basic Income for Artists scheme makes it highly probable that writers’ requirements will not be adequately recognised or factored into the Basic Income for Artists scheme.
The international perception of Ireland has been carved in the words, in music, in the many arts we excel at from poetry to the visual arts. At a time when AI large language models threaten to homogenise the world’s communications, it is critical that Ireland has a cultural shield to protect the uniqueness of our language, our cultural heritage and our particular view of the world.
The best way to do that is to support our artists and give them the modest financial freedom to create works for the world and to further our reputation in it.
Conor McAnally, Chair
On behalf of the Irish Writers Union
