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Irish Times
a day ago
- Business
- Irish Times
Ireland's online safety code can continue but further legal challenges likely over regulation
The High Court's rejection of a challenge by tech company X against Ireland's online safety code will come as a relief to the Government and the regulator Coimisiún na Meán . The code is viewed in Government as crucial in protecting children from dangers in the digital world. But regulation of the tech industry, particularly from Europe, is facing strong opposition in Washington where some politicians argue it could curtail the free speech of Americans. And while Elon Musk's X did not succeed on Tuesday, experts believe it is inevitable there will be more litigation in the future over online regulation. READ MORE The online safety code was introduced last year with the then Minister for Media Catherine Martin arguing that it represented 'a big step forward in online safety' that would 'make all of us, but particularly our children, safer online'. Last September then Taoiseach Simon Harris told the tech industry that the world of self-regulation was changing. But in the intervening period, there has been strong pushback from some quarters internationally about the regulation of the tech sector. In a Washington controlled by Donald Trump such regulation in some cases is characterised as censorship. [ What are the new online safety regulations that Big Tech is unhappy about – and will they work? Opens in new window ] Ireland's online safety code brought the State in line with the EU's Audiovisual Media Services Directive. Photograph: Getty Images In June US secretary of state Marco Rubio warned of visa bans on foreign nationals deemed to be censoring Americans. He suggested the new policy could target officials regulating US tech companies. Last week the US House of Representatives judiciary committee issued an interim report that saw the EU's Digital Services Act (DSA) as a 'foreign censorship threat'. 'European regulators define political speech, humour, and other First Amendment-protected content as disinformation and hate speech, and then require platforms to change their global content moderation policies to censor it.' Ireland's online safety code brought the State in line with the EU's Audiovisual Media Services Directive (AVMSD). Ms Martin said new rules would introduce 'real accountability' for online video-sharing platforms and require them 'to take action to protect those that use their platforms, including by having robust complaints-handling procedures and introducing effective age-verification'. The code meant platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, TikTok, LinkedIn, X, would be obliged to comply or face fines of up to €20 million, or 10 per cent of annual turnover, whichever was greater. However, X, in its legal challenge, contended the code impermissibly went further than the AVMSD. It said it covered areas within the scope of another set of rules – the EU's DSA, which aims to prevent illegal and harmful activities online and the spread of disinformation. Coimisiún na Meán welcomed the ruling and said it would study it in detail before making further comment. Dr TJ McIntyre, associate professor in the Sutherland School of Law at UCD , said the High Court ruling was important in the narrow sense that provisions of the code related to age assurance obligations could continue for the time being. He said there has now been two separate court cases but there was likely to more litigation in the future over online regulation.
Extra.ie
11-07-2025
- Business
- Extra.ie
Major row dividing the coalition over income for artists
A major row is simmering in the Coalition over plans to abolish a scheme that provides a guaranteed income for artists. understands that the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform (DPER), led by Fianna Fáil's Jack Chambers, and the Department of Culture, led by Fine Gael's Patrick O'Donovan, are at loggerheads over plans to scrap the Basic Income for the Arts (BIA) pilot scheme. Under the scheme, initiated by former arts minister Catherine Martin, of the Green Party, the State pays €325 a week to around 2,000 artists to address the financial instability faced by many working in the sector. Successful applicants were notified in September 2022 and the pilot runs over three years from 2022 to 2025. Media Minister Catherine Martin was first told of a potential golden handshake to RTÉ's head of content Jim Jennings at the end of May. Extra has learned, however, that the scheme barely escaped the budgetary knife during a DPER review of spending in the Culture Department. As part of the build-up to the revamped National Development Plan (NDP) and Budget 2026 – which the Government has warned will be a difficult one – DPER have been reviewing the spending of all departments. One minister noted: 'It is like a home invasion. They [the DPER] are going through everywhere like a dose of salts; a lot of ministers are feeling very bruised.' This is especially the case within the Department of Culture, where sources told Extra: 'The artists scheme barely survived; the minister had a battle to get a six-month extension.' One senior figure noted: 'The DPER accountants were not impressed. They were using phrases like 'strong reservations' on any future schemes.' A departmental source added: 'The suggestion was made was that it was a measure that doesn't need repeating. Pic: Gareth Chaney/Collins Photos 'That's civil service speak for taking the scheme to the vets to be put down.' The DPER accountants are believed to have met stern resistance from Minister O'Donovan. One Government figure noted: 'The minister has strong personal views on this: he will not accept losing a penny or a single artist. The minister will react very vigorously to any attempts to trim this scheme.' They added: 'There has been significant research into the operation of this project. There is a comprehensive report. All artists were, as part of the process, questioned over its impact.' One furious senior Fine Gael figure lambasted the move, noting: 'It's politically stupid. You would think we would have far better things to be doing than taking on a few starving artists.' They warned the Government is 'kicking over a whole series of hornets nests' to save money for the budget, alluding to the ongoing row over whether to scrap a €1,000 reduction in student fees that was introduced as a cost-ofliving measure. Public Expenditure Minister Jack Chambers. Pic: Fran Veale Another Fine Gael source warned: 'Jack [Chambers] would want to be very careful. 'Culture is a small department but sometimes in these matters it's not the size of the dog in the fight, but rather the size of the fight in the dog that matters, and Patrick likes fighting.' They warned that the Fine Gael TD for Limerick County would not 'tolerate any incursions like this on his patch'. Another Fine Gael source noted: 'It is a classic example of Fianna Fáil knowing the price of everything and the value of nothing. 'All these words by Micheál Martin and others about the value of and pride in Irish culture sound very hollow. Pic: Shutterstock 'Pride has to eat, you know.' Responding to queries on the issue, the Department of Public Expenditure said: 'Any matters relating to decisions for Budget 2026, including the below mentioned scheme, will be considered as part of the normal budgetary process.' Given the perceived success of the scheme, Culture Minister Mr O'Donovan received some criticism when he announced a short six-month extension of the current arrangements. Labour arts spokesperson Rob O'Donoghue sharply criticised the scenario where artists had been left with a 'six-month Sword of Damocles hanging over their heads'. Pic: Shutterstock Mr O'Donovan has already signalled that he expects a full renewal of the scheme in Budget 2026, noting at the announcement of the six-month extension of the current scheme: 'I intend to bring proposals for a successor scheme to Cabinet as part of Budget 2026.' He added: 'The extension I am announcing today will provide time to finalise the research programme and to undertake stakeholder engagement, which will provide the Government with a comprehensive evidence base upon which to base future policy decisions about the Basic Income for the Arts (BIA).' Mr O'Donovan added that evidence collected to date indicates 'the BIA payment is having a consistent positive impact across almost all indicators'. Cairn Community Games ambassador Jack Woolley with children Helena Casey and Joseph Farrell at the launch of Cairn Community Games in the Gate Theatre. Pic: Julien Behal He said artists in receipt of the support are typically able to 'devote more time to their art, produce more pieces of work, experience a boost to their wellbeing through greater life satisfaction, experience reduced anxiety, and are protected from the precariousness of incomes in the sector to a greater degree than those who are not receiving the support'. The Basic Income for the Arts pilot scheme was launched in 2022 with two funding streams: one for newly qualified artists and one for more established ones. Some 2,000 eligible applicants were chosen through random selection, having met the criteria. No means test was applied to applicants.
Irish Times
28-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Irish Times
Former Arts Council director Maureen Kennelly: ‘The Minister saw the opportunity for a scalp. I was an easy target'
THE BOTCHED IT PROJECT 'None of us set out with the intention of this happening. It is deeply regrettable. There's been lots of indignation and outrage about this, but I wouldn't want that to obscure the fact that the arts sector is populated with people – and the Arts Council as well – who are highly dedicated, very responsible and committed to delivering value for money for the public.' This is the view of Maureen Kennelly , who left her role as director of the Arts Council this month, and is speaking about the organisation's disastrous IT project, which ended with a multimillion-euro write-off and no software system to show for it. The idea was to bring together five existing systems, including those dealing with grants. The original budget for the project was €2.97 million, for delivery in 2021. That rose to €6.5 million by the time the plug was pulled, in June 2024. The net loss was €5.3 million. The Department of Culture, which oversees the council, has acknowledged its mistakes since details of the fiasco emerged in February, but the repercussions are being felt mainly at the council, where Kennelly has been jettisoned after a single term. Patrick O'Donovan , who took over as Minister for Culture from Catherine Martin in January, vetoed a unanimous board decision to renew Kennelly's contract. READ MORE Entrance: Patrick O'Donovan became Minister for Culture in January. Photograph: Sam Boal/Collins 'From the outset of all this, in early February, the Minister's reaction to the write-off of spending on the IT system set the tone for wider media commentary and political response,' Kennelly says. 'The board of the Arts Council was fully satisfied with my role in the project and made the recommendation to the Minister to renew me for a further five-year term. 'They were confident that the Niamh Brennan review' – of the council's governance and culture, which O'Donovan commissioned in February and is expected this autumn – 'would accurately describe the development of the project and my role in it, trying to rescue it. It is important for me to say that I inherited this project. The project had started well before my time, and it was conceived and initiated on a very shaky foundation. 'I led the bid to rescue it to the point where it was ultimately decided by the board, in conjunction with me, to stop the project in favour of an option which would be cheaper in the long run' – an off-the-shelf rather than custom system. 'Unfortunately, the Minister decided not to wait for the outcome of the Niamh Brennan review. He judged me before those findings are available and against the clear advice of the Arts Council board. His actions have served to discredit the Arts Council and, in particular, my reputation. It is clear to me that he saw the opportunity for a scalp and I was a very easy target.' The IT project had 'troubled origins', she says, because 'the senior expertise simply was never there to deliver it, and the oversight from the department and the OGCIO' – Office of the Government Chief Information Officer – 'was never in place'. 'This was one outlying project which failed, there's no doubt. But it absolutely should not overshadow all the work the Arts Council does. And the Arts Council is by no means alone in enduring difficulties with such a project.' Kennelly chose to remain at the organisation until the conclusion of two Oireachtas committee hearings into the debacle – 'I thought it was very important for the Arts Council to be accountable' – and left two days later, on Friday, June 13th. One of the hearings was of the joint Oireachtas Committee on Arts, Media, Communications, Culture and Sport, where the Sinn Féin TD Joanna Byrne described Kennelly as having been 'thrown under the bus by the Minister'. THE BACKGROUND In 2018-19, with the council's core computer system on its last legs, the organisation's previous director initiated a huge 'business transformation project' with the approval of the Department of Culture. The IT project was complex, seeking to merge grant-management and financial systems, among others. As Ireland's national Government agency for funding, developing and promoting the arts, it has a large brief and hundreds of clients, from big organisations to individual artists. It was clear at the committee hearings that neither the council nor the department had the senior IT wherewithal to adequately manage or assess this, and relied on external contractors and project managers, where frequent staff changes added to the problem. The project ran behind from early on; specifications were altered after the business case was made. Issues and delays over the system's analysis, design and development had knock-on effects for timelines and budget. Covid happened. As the IT project progressed, Kennelly sought departmental approval several times to hire a senior in-house information-technology specialist. The department said it could not approve recruiting at the proposed level of Civil Service principal officer (current salary range: €105,000-€130,000). Two senior IT professionals were eventually hired in April-May 2024, at the assistant-principal-higher grade (€88,500-€110,500). 'Unfortunately it came too late in the day. We had halted the project at that stage,' Kennelly says. With hindsight it would doubtless have been better to stop sooner. 'They were torturous decisions along the way,' Kennelly says. 'Because your desire is to protect the initial investment. The last thing you want is to be writing off significant funds. I know from my own very deep past in the arts sector how precious those monies are.' Blinder: Maureen Kennelly with Catherine Martin in 2022, when the TD was minister for culture. Photograph: Maxwell's She was appointed at the height of the pandemic, a period when the arts sector was battling for survival. The council, which Kennelly led with its chairman, Kevin Rafter, and the department, led by Catherine Martin, as minister, and Katherine Licken, its secretary general at the time, are regarded as having played a blinder, securing extra funding to keep the arts afloat through lockdown. Last year the council's programmes, partnerships and grant aid supported 588 organisations and 2,000 individuals, 140 festivals, 318 schools and 31 local authorities. After years of underfunding, the council's annual budget increased by 75 per cent between 2020 and 2024, to €140 million, effectively holding on to Covid-response increases. Its remit expanded, grant applications rose from 3,000 to 8,666, and the council funded more individuals and organisations. All that takes more work; the department says that its approved staffing level for the council increased from 47 in 2018 to 146 in 2024. Ticking away in the background was this complex, ballooning IT project. It has all been detailed in the report of the department's internal examination , in media reports and at the Oireachtas hearings: the Public Accounts Committee on May 29th and Culture Committee on June 11th. And in parallel with Brennan's report, the department is reviewing its own governance and oversight. As the project's expected delivery approached – a year late, in September 2022 – multiple bugs were discovered. This was substandard work, Kennelly told the Public Accounts Committee. 'The really serious nature of the situation was clear to me,' she says. The council went into dispute with contractors, and Kennelly restructured the project, changing internal personnel and stopping payments to contractors. 'With hindsight, I'm not sure any other CEO would have done any differently, to be honest.' She continued to 'really earnestly' appeal for sanction for a senior IT person. THE ACCOUNTING Before the Oireachtas committees, Kennelly and Feargal Ó Coigligh , Licken's successor as secretary general, sought to be 'completely transparent in relation to our failings'. A key factor that emerged at the Culture Committee is that although the council kept the department informed, the problems that developed appear not to have been escalated within the department, up to the secretary general or the minister, until late June 2024. 'It was surprising to me that it wasn't being conveyed upwards,' Kennelly says. 'We weren't keeping a single thing hidden from the department.' Asked in committee how much correspondence she had with the department about the project, she estimated 'about 60 pieces of written communication' – a number Ó Coigligh initially questioned at the Culture Committee but then accepted. At committee, he also acknowledged departmental failure. 'We should have stepped in much earlier when it became clear this project had run into serious difficulty.' Twenty-one external expert contractors have been paid; 75 per cent of the costs relate to four companies. The council has started legal proceedings against two of them (Codec, one of the contractors involved, strongly rejects claims its work was substandard) and is in pre-action with two others. The legal action has cost €60,000 so far, but the department has now frozen spending, pending recently sought feedback from the Attorney General's office. 'I hope the Minister's decision to pause spending on it will not squander a good opportunity to recover monies on behalf of the public,' Kennelly says. 'It wasn't, 'Let's just lash loads of money at the lawyers and get this fixed.' It was being constructed extremely carefully.' 'Furious': Patrick O'Donovan and Simon Harris. Photograph: Brian Lawless/PA Wire O'Donovan was 'desperately angry' when he was told about the €5.3 million write-off, and immediately took it to the Cabinet; there was, perhaps, the slight air of a new sheriff wanting to clean up Dodge. Coming on foot of other sagas involving wasted public money, fury erupted . Minister for Public Expenditure Jack Chambers decried 'a massive waste of money'. Tánaiste Simon Harris was 'furious'. (Then, this month, O'Donovan was admonished for bringing 'substantial expenditure' issues, including the Arts Council, to Cabinet 'under the arm', without telling colleagues in advance.) When the Minister declined to renew Kennelly's contract, the council instead proposed deferring a decision until after Brennan's report. The department's only offer was a 'final contract' of up to nine months or 'until a new director is appointed, whichever is sooner'. It was 'highly conditioned', Kennelly says. 'I think any self-respecting senior executive would have thought twice about it.' She declined. 'It's just disappointing that my only encounter with the Minister was about this, and that he appears to have rushed to such hasty judgment on this outlying project when there are so many other fantastic things being delivered by the Arts Council,' Kennelly says. THE MEDIA COVERAGE The Minister told the Sunday Independent last weekend, 'I made the decision that I think is in the best interest of the Arts Council and the taxpayer.' Kennelly is 'flabbergasted by this. He made the decision against the clear advice of the Arts Council, and I would like him to explain how this decision meets the best interest of the taxpayer and the Arts Council. 'I find his statement deeply insulting and damaging to my reputation. I hope that he'll have an opportunity to explain why he made that statement at the joint Oireachtas committee' when it convenes on July 2nd. She says the council was dismayed by details in an Irish Times report in April based on information released following a Freedom of Information request. It referred to a meeting that the new Minister called with Kennelly and Maura McGrath – Rafter's successor as chair – two months earlier. O'Donovan asked if they or their predecessors had discussed the business transformation project with the previous minister or secretary general, 'to which both replied 'No'', according to minutes the department supplied. But Kennelly's own note of her full reply is, 'No, but I kept the principal officer, my designated line of contact, informed right throughout the project.' 'I was flabbergasted,' Kennelly says. 'It was an extremely selective record of the meeting. The department should never have sent minutes to The Irish Times without checking them with us first. It was an extremely unfair reflection of the whole situation.' She adds, 'It appears they may have been put out there to justify the Minister's actions.' Culture Committee: Feargal Ó Coigligh answers questions on June 11th. Photograph: Oireachtas TV Several members of the Culture Committee, including Malcolm Byrne of Fianna Fáil, repeatedly asked the secretary general whether he advised the Minister about Kennelly's contract. Ó Coigligh repeated, several times, that it was a ministerial decision, effectively refusing to answer the question. THE LESSONS 'It's a huge regret of mine' that the IT project wasn't delivered, Kennelly says, 'and that the circumstances of my contract mean I'm not there to see a new system through. I hope and I trust good decisions will be made in the future.' The lessons to be learned include ensuring appropriate internal expertise is in place, alongside departmental and OGCIO oversight. 'The Arts Council is set up to develop the arts and to support artists and organisations. It's not set up as an IT specialist ... The risks of the project weren't properly assessed from the start.' If they had been, someone would perhaps have said, 'This is a project that's doomed to fail ... You were absolutely not set up to take this on.' At the Culture Committee hearing Joanna Byrne said, 'I am of the view that there was full transparency at every stage, from 2021 right up to 2024, on the part of the Arts Council. Yet it is okay for the department to state that it failed but that nobody within it is to blame ... Thousands of artists in this country are not getting the service they desire and deserve because of the failures in the department. I do not think it cuts the mustard to state that the department failed but that nobody was held accountable.' Kennelly says now, 'It seems probable to me that someone was briefing against the Arts Council and against me, and I find that abhorrent.' Is she bitter about all that has happened? 'No. I'm disappointed. It's been a very tumultuous time. I loved the role, and have huge regard for the people in the Arts Council, and equally huge regard for people in the sector. The Arts Council's an enormously important part of Irish life. It has to be protected, and funding for the arts has to be protected. That's absolutely critical.'
Irish Times
24-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Irish Times
How Ireland's landmark €325-a-week arts scheme changed my life – I've never taken it for granted
In August 2022, after two years of pandemic shutdowns, the arts sector in Ireland was on its knees. It hadn't been doing too well before Covid-19 , but in the face of a global virus, it all but evaporated. Government restrictions forced cinemas, theatres, performance venues, galleries and any arts-related spaces to shut down. Tens of thousands of people lost their jobs , myself included. In an already struggling sector, it was the death knell for the careers of many artists and arts workers. After tireless work by the National Campaign for the Arts and Theatre Forum, former minister for arts Catherine Martin announced the introduction of a Basic Income for the Arts (BIA) scheme. This was to be a three-year research project, funded by the EU, funnelled through the Irish government. It would cost between €150,000-€200,000. Out of 8,000 eligible applicants, 2,000 were selected in an anonymised and randomised process. I was one of those 2,000 people. The BIA was an intervention to try to save a sinking ship. The severe impact of the pandemic on artists and arts workers was preceded by years of financial cuts and dwindling budgets. The sector had suffered massive cuts during the 2008 recession, and funding never made its way back up to pre-recession levels. In short, being an artist in Ireland has meant living precariously, frequently working for below minimum wage, and often working for free. Let's take a deep breath together and move in time to the fateful moment that was 2020. It's impossible for me to see this number without feeling a shudder down my spine. And yet, before it became that unforgettable year in history, for me it was one of great hope and excitement. 2020 was going to be my year. I had worked very hard for more than 20 years to build the momentum I was finally reaping. After decades of failures, successes, more failures, rejections, heartaches, near misses and almost- theres, I was staring down the barrel of a good year. No, a great year. Following a critically acclaimed, sold-out run in 2019, a play I'd written, This Beautiful Village, was going back into the Abbey Theatre for production on the main stage for one month. After that, there would be a national tour. I got a publishing deal, I signed with a new agent at a big agency in London, and This Beautiful Village won Best New Play at the Irish Theatre Awards . This glorious moment had been a long time coming for me. And then, in a heartbeat, it all disappeared … poof … into thin air. READ MORE At the time, people were at pains to assure me that my show would come back once restrictions were lifted, that all would be righted. None of these people worked in the arts or entertainment. They did not understand that in this business, when you lose your slot, it's gone. As the pandemic raged on, the Abbey changed leadership, and I was not part of their new agenda. This is how it goes in showbiz. I spent a long, long time grieving this loss. And while I was not alone – many of my peers had also lost their work – it was an intensely lonely and solitary grief. I was the only person in my family who lost everything overnight. It was also an ambiguous loss. I couldn't point to something tangible and feel its absence, because it didn't happened. It was a 'supposed to be', sliding doors moment in my life. How can you miss something you never actually had? I sank into a deep depression. I felt broken. And to top it all off, I was sick. The week of the very first shutdown, I had surgery and was diagnosed with endometriosis. In addition to grief and loss, I was in constant, severe pain. My livelihood was gone, along with my identity, my sense of self. And I got completely and utterly lost in it all. I spent two years battling with my grief, and fighting for healthcare to treat my illness. I wasn't doing well with either. I'd heard rumours that a Basic Income for the Arts scheme was coming down the line but I wasn't going to hold my breath. When an official announcement arrived, and applications opened, I put my name forward, knowing full well that my chances were slim. A lot of arts sector workers were in a bad way, and I was by no means the worst. I was able to rent a home near my daughter's school, and was able to put food on the table. Not everybody had it that good. When I received word I'd been selected, a light went on inside me. The money would be a huge boost, of course, but also, I felt seen. I felt valued. As a writer, as an artist, that's not something you feel very often. Artists expend so much energy fighting for their worth to be adequately compensated that it's very easy to lose your sense of self-worth and belief. These are not flowery words, or luxury feelings, they are fundamental to the health and wellbeing of every human being. When someone shows you that they believe in you, as the BIA did for me, it shifts you on your axis. In a society that devalues artists, yet consumes art every single day, a sliver of belief can make a seismic shift in the person who creates that art. It turns out that €325 a week can not only help with groceries and doctors' bills, it also makes you feel like you're worth something. That the creativity you contribute to the world is, in fact, meaningful. [ 'Life changing' income scheme for artists means more spend time on work and fewer suffer from depression Opens in new window ] That first BIA payment I received came at a very dark time in my life. It was a ray of light, a beacon of hope that maybe, maybe , I'd be able to keep writing. Qualified to do exactly zero else, the only path for me was forward. There was guilt, of course. Selection had been randomised but, as I've said, there had been 8,000 applications. Only 2,000 were selected. I carried a sense of shame, that there were others more deserving than me. And nobody, nobody , who was selected talked about it. It was an unspoken agreement. Don't ask, don't tell. That's how dire things have gotten for artists in Ireland. Every month, a payment would go straight into my bank account. In the three years I've been part of this scheme, I've never once taken that money for granted. In tough times, when doctors' bills skyrocketed, those payments took the edge off a sharp knife. They gave me breathing space to try to navigate writing while sick and in pain during a pandemic. Even as the dreaded restrictions began to lift, and we put distance between ourselves and the darkest days of the pandemic, that €325 continued to help with medical bills. It bought me time and space to process total career loss, chronic illness and allowed me to wedge the door open to keep writing, in whatever way I could. Every six months, there was a survey. It asked questions about my life demographics, things you would expect to answer: age, living situation, employment status, a lot of standard queries about where I was at. What I did not expect were the questions about my mental health and wellbeing. In a gentle, respectful way, it made me reflect on how I was really doing. There were the questions about care and household responsibilities. My answers to those blew my mind. It was galling to realise how much time I was spending on running a household and it was news to me to discover that with the hours I was putting in, I was, in fact, a stay-at-home mother. The purpose of the survey was to gather information, but what it did was wake me up to the domestic inequity in my household, and take a good hard look at how I was spending my time. 'How much time did you spend on leisure activities this month?' On at least three of the surveys, my answer was zero. Had it not been for this research element of the project, I'm not sure I would have ever realised this. Writing another zero next to a question about how much money I'd made from my specific art form (playwriting) forced me to have some very difficult conversations with myself. Most artists in Ireland cannot make a living from making art alone. They have to subsidise their income with jobs in other sectors, or if they're lucky, in an arts-related role. In 2024, an estimated 6.6 million tourists visited our island. They didn't all come for the Guinness. And they certainly didn't come for the weather. Our scenery is gorgeous, yes, even in the rain, but what really draws people to Ireland is our culture. Our music, our writers, our art, our theatre, our festivals, these are what make Ireland such a popular place to visit. And when they do, they spend money. Lots of it. So why are the folks that make that culture living on the breadline? The economics of culture are simple: if you build it, they will come. In their droves. They'll spend money in pubs, hotels, galleries, theatres, shops, landmarks and museums. They'll buy books and woolly hats and green hoodies and shillelaghs and Claddagh rings and records and brown bread. They'll splash the cash to immerse themselves in the full experience of the immense culture of Ireland. But culture doesn't build itself. It requires time, talent and dedication. And the people who make that culture can't do it if they can't make the rent, or they can't afford to take their sick kid to the doctor, or they can't afford a space or studio. The poetry that politicians love to quote to humanise themselves doesn't magic up out of nowhere. The TV shows you can't stop binge-watching don't make themselves. The books you read were not written by an AI bot. Someone, an artist, had to sit down at a desk, likely for years, and grind that sucker out. For a pittance. The music you love to listen to started in an artist's head and made its way out on to an instrument. That instrument costs money. The recording equipment and studio space cost more. Like it or not, art needs money, because the people who make it are human beings who need the same things as you: shelter, food and water, yes. But they also need to be valued enough to invest in. [ The Irish Times view on basic income for artists: keep it going Opens in new window ] The Basic Income for the Arts scheme was due to end in August but it has been extended until February 2026. Minister for Culture, Communications and Sport, Patrick O'Donovan TD, plans to bring proposals for a 'successor scheme' to Cabinet as part of Budget 2026. Economically, the return on a BIA scheme will pay huge dividends in the form of more art, which will grow the tourism industry which will grow the hospitality, service, and retail industries. As an investment, it's a no brainer. And those are pretty thin on the ground these days. Lisa Tierney-Keogh is a playwright and writer
Irish Times
21-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Irish Times
How €325 a month changed my life – I've never taken it for granted
In August 2022, after two years of pandemic shutdowns, the arts sector in Ireland was on its knees. It hadn't been doing too well before Covid-19 , but in the face of a global virus, it all but evaporated. Government restrictions forced cinemas, theatres, performance venues, galleries and any arts-related spaces to shut down. Tens of thousands of people lost their jobs , myself included. In an already struggling sector, it was the death knell for the careers of many artists and arts workers. After tireless work by the National Campaign for the Arts and Theatre Forum, former minister for arts Catherine Martin announced the introduction of a Basic Income for the Arts (BIA) scheme. This was to be a three-year research project, funded by the EU, funnelled through the Irish government. It would cost between €150,000-€200,000. Out of 8,000 eligible applicants, 2,000 were selected in an anonymised and randomised process. I was one of those 2,000 people. The BIA was an intervention to try to save a sinking ship. The severe impact of the pandemic on artists and arts workers was preceded by years of financial cuts and dwindling budgets. The sector had suffered massive cuts during the 2008 recession, and funding never made its way back up to pre-recession levels. In short, being an artist in Ireland has meant living precariously, frequently working for below minimum wage, and often working for free. Let's take a deep breath together and move in time to the fateful moment that was 2020. It's impossible for me to see this number without feeling a shudder down my spine. And yet, before it became that unforgettable year in history, for me it was one of great hope and excitement. 2020 was going to be my year. I had worked very hard for more than 20 years to build the momentum I was finally reaping. After decades of failures, successes, more failures, rejections, heartaches, near misses and almost- theres, I was staring down the barrel of a good year. No, a great year. Following a critically acclaimed, sold-out run in 2019, a play I'd written, This Beautiful Village, was going back into the Abbey Theatre for production on the main stage for one month. After that, there would be a national tour. I got a publishing deal, I signed with a new agent at a big agency in London, and This Beautiful Village won Best New Play at the Irish Theatre Awards . This glorious moment had been a long time coming for me. And then, in a heartbeat, it all disappeared … poof … into thin air. READ MORE At the time, people were at pains to assure me that my show would come back once restrictions were lifted, that all would be righted. None of these people worked in the arts or entertainment. They did not understand that in this business, when you lose your slot, it's gone. As the pandemic raged on, the Abbey changed leadership, and I was not part of their new agenda. This is how it goes in showbiz. I spent a long, long time grieving this loss. And while I was not alone – many of my peers had also lost their work – it was an intensely lonely and solitary grief. I was the only person in my family who lost everything overnight. It was also an ambiguous loss. I couldn't point to something tangible and feel its absence, because it didn't happened. It was a 'supposed to be', sliding doors moment in my life. How can you miss something you never actually had? I sank into a deep depression. I felt broken. And to top it all off, I was sick. The week of the very first shutdown, I had surgery and was diagnosed with endometriosis. In addition to grief and loss, I was in constant, severe pain. My livelihood was gone, along with my identity, my sense of self. And I got completely and utterly lost in it all. I spent two years battling with my grief, and fighting for healthcare to treat my illness. I wasn't doing well with either. I'd heard rumours that a Basic Income for the Arts scheme was coming down the line but I wasn't going to hold my breath. When an official announcement arrived, and applications opened, I put my name forward, knowing full well that my chances were slim. A lot of arts sector workers were in a bad way, and I was by no means the worst. I was able to rent a home near my daughter's school, and was able to put food on the table. Not everybody had it that good. When I received word I'd been selected, a light went on inside me. The money would be a huge boost, of course, but also, I felt seen. I felt valued. As a writer, as an artist, that's not something you feel very often. Artists expend so much energy fighting for their worth to be adequately compensated that it's very easy to lose your sense of self-worth and belief. These are not flowery words, or luxury feelings, they are fundamental to the health and wellbeing of every human being. When someone shows you that they believe in you, as the BIA did for me, it shifts you on your axis. In a society that devalues artists, yet consumes art every single day, a sliver of belief can make a seismic shift in the person who creates that art. It turns out that €325 a week can not only help with groceries and doctors' bills, it also makes you feel like you're worth something. That the creativity you contribute to the world is, in fact, meaningful. [ 'Life changing' income scheme for artists means more spend time on work and fewer suffer from depression Opens in new window ] That first BIA payment I received came at a very dark time in my life. It was a ray of light, a beacon of hope that maybe, maybe , I'd be able to keep writing. Qualified to do exactly zero else, the only path for me was forward. There was guilt, of course. Selection had been randomised but, as I've said, there had been 8,000 applications. Only 2,000 were selected. I carried a sense of shame, that there were others more deserving than me. And nobody, nobody , who was selected talked about it. It was an unspoken agreement. Don't ask, don't tell. That's how dire things have gotten for artists in Ireland. Every month, a payment would go straight into my bank account. In the three years I've been part of this scheme, I've never once taken that money for granted. In tough times, when doctors' bills skyrocketed, those payments took the edge off a sharp knife. They gave me breathing space to try to navigate writing while sick and in pain during a pandemic. Even as the dreaded restrictions began to lift, and we put distance between ourselves and the darkest days of the pandemic, that €325 continued to help with medical bills. It bought me time and space to process total career loss, chronic illness and allowed me to wedge the door open to keep writing, in whatever way I could. Every six months, there was a survey. It asked questions about my life demographics, things you would expect to answer: age, living situation, employment status, a lot of standard queries about where I was at. What I did not expect were the questions about my mental health and wellbeing. In a gentle, respectful way, it made me reflect on how I was really doing. There were the questions about care and household responsibilities. My answers to those blew my mind. It was galling to realise how much time I was spending on running a household and it was news to me to discover that with the hours I was putting in, I was, in fact, a stay-at-home mother. The purpose of the survey was to gather information, but what it did was wake me up to the domestic inequity in my household, and take a good hard look at how I was spending my time. 'How much time did you spend on leisure activities this month?' On at least three of the surveys, my answer was zero. Had it not been for this research element of the project, I'm not sure I would have ever realised this. Writing another zero next to a question about how much money I'd made from my specific art form (playwriting) forced me to have some very difficult conversations with myself. Most artists in Ireland cannot make a living from making art alone. They have to subsidise their income with jobs in other sectors, or if they're lucky, in an arts-related role. In 2024, an estimated 6.6 million tourists visited our island. They didn't all come for the Guinness. And they certainly didn't come for the weather. Our scenery is gorgeous, yes, even in the rain, but what really draws people to Ireland is our culture. Our music, our writers, our art, our theatre, our festivals, these are what make Ireland such a popular place to visit. And when they do, they spend money. Lots of it. So why are the folks that make that culture living on the breadline? The economics of culture are simple: if you build it, they will come. In their droves. They'll spend money in pubs, hotels, galleries, theatres, shops, landmarks and museums. They'll buy books and woolly hats and green hoodies and shillelaghs and Claddagh rings and records and brown bread. They'll splash the cash to immerse themselves in the full experience of the immense culture of Ireland. But culture doesn't build itself. It requires time, talent and dedication. And the people who make that culture can't do it if they can't make the rent, or they can't afford to take their sick kid to the doctor, or they can't afford a space or studio. The poetry that politicians love to quote to humanise themselves doesn't magic up out of nowhere. The TV shows you can't stop binge-watching don't make themselves. The books you read were not written by an AI bot. Someone, an artist, had to sit down at a desk, likely for years, and grind that sucker out. For a pittance. The music you love to listen to started in an artist's head and made its way out on to an instrument. That instrument costs money. The recording equipment and studio space cost more. Like it or not, art needs money, because the people who make it are human beings who need the same things as you: shelter, food and water, yes. But they also need to be valued enough to invest in. [ The Irish Times view on basic income for artists: keep it going Opens in new window ] The Basic Income for the Arts scheme was due to end in August but it has been extended until February 2026. Minister for Culture, Communications and Sport, Patrick O'Donovan TD, plans to bring proposals for a 'successor scheme' to Cabinet as part of Budget 2026. Economically, the return on a BIA scheme will pay huge dividends in the form of more art, which will grow the tourism industry which will grow the hospitality, service, and retail industries. As an investment, it's a no brainer. And those are pretty thin on the ground these days. Lisa Tierney-Keogh is a playwright and writer
