There have been basic income trials elsewhere, but this is the first permanent scheme of its kind anywhere. In 2018, the music resource organisation First Music Contact ran a piece of research that advocated for a basic income for artists. “And our economics were conservative,” says Nadia Feldkircher who leads the Basic Income for the Arts research programme. “There are no other basic income pilots on different types of populations where we see people working more but these people do. If it’s universal basic income then why is it cyclical, impermanent and limited to 2,000 applicants?”Others – including the campaign group Basic Income Ireland – see it as a step towards a universal basic income.

Source: The Irish Times February 21, 2026 15:51 UTC