In a rare ‘Man Bites Dog’ moment, Minister Catherine Martin did the the unthinkable in the Project Arts Theatre on Tuesday 5th April: she delivered on her promise. Flanked by the Taoiseach and Táiniste, she outlined the rollout of the pilot scheme that will see 2000 artists and arts workers receive a non-means tested €325 per week over a three year period.It was an acknowledgement that the Arts lie at the centre of our culture and that the professional lives of artists is precarious and unpredictable – none more so than that of the playwright and screenwriter. The WGI has been involved in this debate throughout and board member Michele Manahan has been instrumental in ensuring that writer’ voices have been heard.

The Minister staked a lot of political capital on this scheme and the hope is that after the data from the pilot is assessed, the scheme will be made permanent and extended more widely. We salute her tenacity.

The scheme is now open for applications and will close on Thursday, 12 May 2022. Only FULL members of the Guild will be entitled to apply and will require a letter from WGI certifying their status.

If you are successful, we would appreciate it if you could let us know. We will keep the information confidential of course but we need to know just how many of our members have benefited from the scheme.

You can find more information here