National Campaign For The Arts

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National Campaign For The Arts

The National Campaign for the Arts is a broad and inclusive coalition that reflects the scale, reach

31/07/2026

NCFA steering committee finishing up a day of meetings yesterday, including a strategic update with the The Arts Council / An Chomhairle Ealaíon in Merrion square.

29/07/2026

NCFA LAUNCHES 2027 PRE-BUDGET SUBMISSION and ANNOUNCE NEW CO-CHAIRS

Today we launch Invest in Artists. Invest in Ireland., our Pre-Budget Submission for 2027, calling on the Government to turn the evidence into action.

The reality for artists in Ireland remains stark. 50.7% of artists experience enforced deprivation. Average weekly earnings in Arts and Entertainment are just 65% of the national average, while only 2% of artists own their homes.

Budget 2027 must respond with ambition.

At the centre of our submission is a call to secure the Basic Income for the Arts permanently in law, maintain it at a minimum of €325 per week and expand it to all eligible artists.

NCFA is also calling for at least €180m for the Arts Council, €15m for Culture Ireland and €14m for Creative Ireland, alongside action on housing and workspaces, cultural infrastructure, disability and diversity, taxation, insurance, climate action and research.

In further news today also marks a new chapter for NCFA. After a period of extraordinary leadership and commitment, Maria Fleming steps down as Chair, with our enormous gratitude for everything she has brought to the campaign.

Carla Rogers and Peter Power will now take up the roles of Co-Chairs, working with our Steering Committee, membership and the wider sector to lead NCFA into its next phase.

The evidence now exists.
The need is clear.
The opportunity is real.

Invest in artists. Invest in Ireland.

After a period of extraordinary leadership and commitment, Maria Fleming steps down as Chair, with our enormous gratitude for everything she has brought to the campaign.

Carla Rogers and Peter Power will now take up the roles of Co-Chairs, working with our Steering Committee, membership and the wider sector to lead NCFA into its next phase.

24/06/2026

Today at Leinster House, the Joint Committee on Arts, Media, Communications, Culture and Sport heard submissions on the topic of “Spaces & Infrastructure for Artists.”

and Peter Power appeared before the Committee alongside representatives from the Department, the The Arts Council / An Chomhairle Ealaíon , and Praxis the Artists' Union of Ireland , contributing to a discussion on the provision of affordable, accessible creative workspaces and cultural infrastructure across Ireland.

Dobz O'Brien and Paul Murray Artist attended the proceedings from the public gallery.

The session highlighted the growing challenges facing artists and arts organisations in securing places to create, develop, and present work, and explored the policy, planning, and investment measures required to support a sustainable creative sector nationwide.

A timely and important discussion on the future of artistic infrastructure in Ireland, and a call loudly made for National Strategy rapidly on the matter.

IrishArts LeinsterHouse CreativeIreland

15/06/2026

The NCFA were honoured to meet President Catherine Connolly in Áras an Uachtaráin today, to share with her details of our ongoing advocacy for the Arts in Ireland. The vital nature of creativity as a bedrock for a compassionate and community-driven society was discussed at length, and we look forward to continuing to champion artists and the Arts in Ireland

21/02/2026

Great to see this feature in The Irish Times today, exploring the origins of the Basic Income for Artists: the origins of the pilot, its impact on recipients, and the view as we move on to the permanent scheme. With input from NCFA Steering Committee member Carla Rogers, former NCFA Chair Angela Dorgan, Clare Duignan of the Culture Recovery Taskforce, Nadia Feldkircher of the BIA Research programme, artists Dave Tynan and Amy Clarkin, Minister Patrick O'Donovan, and more. All sides showing interest in and support for an expanded scheme.
https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/2026/02/21/basic-income-for-the-arts-is-now-permanent-but-for-artists-who-apply-the-money-is-not/

19/02/2026

International interest in Basic Income for Artists continues to grow – NCFA Chair Maria Fleming is the second NCFA committee member to appear on CNN this week, among requests from BBC, and French, Dutch, and Irish media. Eyes are on Ireland at the announcement of this landmark commitment to invest in Ireland's arts industries, highlighting this government's commitment to stabilising the precarious working conditions faced by artists.

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. NCFA is committed to protecting it, strengthening it, expanding it and ensuring it reaches as many people as the evidence shows it should.

11/02/2026

REMINDER: SECTOR MEETING, 27 FEBRUARY // The National Campaign for the Arts invites members of the arts community to a forthcoming sector wide meeting this February 17th at 1pm, offering an opportunity to hear an update on our progress since the last gathering. We will be updating on the Basic Income for Artists, the report on the Arts Council, and next steps for the campaign in 2026.

Two NCFA board members, Maeve Stone and Áine Stapleton, have stepped down and we thank them for their brilliant work. Two former constituency co-ordinators, Paul Murray and Oonagh Kearney, will be joining us as new board members from here on.

This sector wide meeting is intended as a space for shared understanding, questions, and collective reflection on what lies ahead for artists and arts workers.

We warmly encourage practitioners, organisations, and cultural workers across the sector to attend and take part.

Register at the link in bio

10/02/2026

This morning, Minister for Culture, Communications and Sport, Patrick O’Donovan TD, announced the successor scheme to the Basic Income for the Arts Pilot scheme.

The new BIA will operate in 3-year cycles with artists being eligible for 3 out of every 6 years. Practicing artists based in the Republic of Ireland will be invited to apply for the scheme and 2,000 eligible artists will be selected to receive the payment of €325 per week. Those who were on the Pilot who meet the eligibility criteria for the new scheme may apply for the BIA in 2026.This announcement marks a landmark commitment to supporting Irish artists.

NCFA welcomes the Minister's announcement and looks forward to working with the department to expand the scheme in future. NCFA would once again like to recognise the work of the previous NCFA committee and former Minister Catherine Martin in their tireless campaign for basic income for artists.

At today's announcement, committee member Peter Power spoke about the BIA and the transformative impact of the pilot on its recipients:

"Basic Income for Artists is a landmark commitment by the government to invest in Ireland's arts industries, highlighting this government's commitment to stabilising the precarious working conditions faced by artists. 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.

The decision to make Ireland’s Basic Income for the Arts scheme permanent is a moment worth recognising on the national and international stage.
This scheme wasn’t an abstract experiment, it was a real-world test of what happens when people are given stability instead of precarity. Two thousand artists received a modest, guaranteed income, and their experience was carefully measured against a control group. The rigorous results were stunningly clear.

Artists on the scheme spent more time creating, produced more work, and spent less time trapped in unrelated jobs just to survive. Many became better able to sustain themselves through their work alone....[continued in comments]

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