People working in culture and the arts in Galway are being urged to take part in an online consultation ahead of the introduction of a pilot scheme to provide a basic income for the sector.
Artists and creative arts workers will be entitled to apply for basic income payment, as part of a €25 million scheme designed to support and rejuvenate the arts and culture sector.
The online consultation process will remain open for submissions until January 27. The scheme will be launched shortly after the consultation process is completed, at which point further details will be made available on the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport, and Media website.
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People in the arts, as well as the general public, are being urged to take part in the online consultation by the Minister of State, and Fine Gael Galway West TD, Hildegarde Naughton, who said it was a way of recognising “the important role and societal value of culture and the arts”.
She noted how the importance of the arts was “apparent as during the pandemic, when it provided hope in difficult times”, despite being the sector most affected by the Covid-19 restrictions.
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Minister Naughton [pictured above] believes the policy can potentially have “a transformative effect” on the cultural landscape and “the life and work” of those who contribute to it.
“As a hotbed for culture and the arts, Galway is uniquely well placed to benefit from this transformation,” she said. “This is a means of supporting culture and the arts, so that our exceptional creative talent can focus and flourish.”
