Summary of Annual Report – 2025
Basic Income Ireland continued its work in 2025, held several events and made a number of useful interventions in public discussions. Here are some of the highlights of the year.
Steering Group (SG)
The SG in 2025 comprised Alan McCarthy, Bobby Lambert, Colette Finn, Dave Quinn, Eileen Boyle, John Baker, Mark Cumming, Michael Birmingham and Peadar McDonald. It appointed Bobby and John as Joint Coordinators, Mark as Secretary, and Dave as Treasurer.
Communications with members
In February, we set up a WhatsApp Community. Members can join the WhatsApp Community by emailing Mark at hello@basicincome.ie.
We also sent five newsletters during the year.
Public and Members’ meetings
We held a public meeting at the ‘Trinity in the Community’ facility in Ringsend on 15 September.
We had a pre-Christmas get-together on 6 December.
Some members also attended online events (see below).
Basic Income for the Arts (BIA)
Despite its limitations as a Basic Income pilot, BII continued to take a constructive approach to engaging with the BIA pilot. Our position has always been to see BIA as a step towards the implementation of basic income for everyone living in Ireland. We have consistently pointed out that the reasons for initiating BIA are reasons for implementing universal, unconditional basic income.
Throughout the year, we continued to collaborate with UBI Lab Arts, UBI Lab Leeds and UBI Lab Network in our series of online sessions about the BIA. All of the sessions (together with a lot of other interesting videos) are available to view on the BII YouTube channel.
In May, the Department of Culture published a Qualitative Report on the pilot. BII issued a press statement calling for the immediate and full implementation of a Universal and Unconditional Basic Income in Ireland.
In August/September, the Department held online consultations about the future of BIA. We followed these up with a submission to the Department, a letter in the Irish Times, and a letter to the Minister.
Art and Basic Income group
We hosted an online event on Art and Basic Income on 27 May. Participants brought examples of works of art that related to the idea of universal, unconditional basic income. A wide range of examples were shown and discussed, including paintings, videos, sculpture and music.
Revision of Leaflet
The SG designed a new leaflet, copies of which are available to members for distribution.
Other activities
In June, the SG made a submission to the Public Consultation on the successor to the “Roadmap for Social Inclusion 2020-2025”, arguing for basic income as a key element of any meaningful social inclusion policy.
In November, the SG issued a press release on the Fastway collapse, arguing that it demonstrated the need for a basic income for all.
Members of the SG have taken opportunities to engage with political parties and with other organisations over the year.
Online presence / IT
We had a consistent presence on Facebook this year. Our YouTube channel has been kept up to date. The website published six posts during the year.
Media coverage
There was continued media coverage of the BIA pilot both within Ireland and abroad, as well as about universal, unconditional basic income.
In memoriam
We published a tribute to Brigid Reynolds on our website. Brigid was a founder member of BIEN Ireland (now Basic Income Ireland) in 1995, a member of the Steering Group, and a life-long advocate for basic income.
Overall reflections
Overall, BII has continued to operate over the past year, has made some useful practical interventions and has helped promote the issue of Basic Income in public discussions. We look forward to continuing and expanding our work in the coming year.
Read the full report.
