Mick Rooney | Journalist & Broadcaster

While I welcome any scheme set up to help creative artists in Ireland, this latest effort from the Irish Department of Culture seems to have been cobbled together by a committee of civil servants pretty clueless about the arts in Ireland and creative artists. From the Journal.ie A PILOT INCOME support scheme for artists will see 2,000 eligible participants chosen at random to receive €325 per week. The Basic Income for the Arts pilot comes following a recommendation of the Arts and Culture Recovery Taskforce that was instituted in 2020 as a response to the Covid-19 pandemic. Culture Minister Catherine Martin has allocated €25 million as part of Budget 2022 to the scheme, which aims to stem the flow of creative people out of the arts sector. It’s envisaged that the income support will encourage creative arts workers to focus on their craft without having to enter into employment in other sectors to sustain themselves. The pilot scheme will run for three years and the department has sai...

Musician John Buckley McQuaid talks about his latest album 'This is Where I keep My Dreams' with Radio Espial's Mick Rooney. Born in Dublin and based in Denmark for many years, John Buckley McQuaid is a professional musician who has toured all over Europe, from pub and music venues to art museums, theatres, schools, prisons and festivals. In addition to writing songs, he writes lyrics and fairy tales. He is also a visual artist (photography, painting and illustration) and makes videos and short films. He played his first paid gig at the Foxrock Folk Club in Dublin in 1969, busked and played around Dublin until 1972 when he left for London. He moved to Denmark in 1973, where he turned professional musician in 1979. Much of his writing contains social commentary, challenging the prevalent general apathy. His albums over the years include: Recorded Pain (1979), Stations in the Sky (1985), and Call it Love (1990). In 2017, he also released ‘’Valentine’s Day’’, a 29 video and so...