Meeting Details

This meeting will be webcast for live and subsequent broadcast on the Council's You Tube site Live Broadcast Link

Members should declare any financial and non-financial interests they have in the items of business for consideration, identifying the relevant agenda item and the nature of their interest.

Motion: Basic Income for Artists and Creative Workers

This Council notes that:
The arts, culture and creative sectors are central to the social fabric, wellbeing, identity and local economy of communities across Mid Ulster and the wider North.
Many artists, performers and creative workers continue to experience insecure, low and irregular incomes, worsened by the long-term impacts of COVID-19 and the ongoing cost-of-living crisis.
In 2022, the Irish Government introduced a Basic Income for Artists pilot scheme, providing an unconditional weekly payment to artists and creative workers.
Independent evaluation has found that the scheme has improved financial stability, wellbeing and the time artists can dedicate to their creative practice.
The Irish Government has now committed to making this scheme permanent, recognising the structural precarity faced by those working in the creative industries.

This Council believes that:
Artists and creative workers should not be forced out of their professions due to financial insecurity.
The creative sector is a vital public good that contributes significantly to community cohesion, regeneration, tourism, mental health, youth engagement and cultural life across Mid Ulster and beyond.
A Basic Income for Artists scheme in the North would help protect creative livelihoods, retain local talent and strengthen our cultural ecosystem.

This Council resolves to:
Call on the Northern Ireland Executive to introduce and fund a Basic Income for Artists scheme, modelled on the Irish Government’s programme, providing regular, unconditional income support to eligible artists and creative workers.
Request that the Minister for Communities lead on the development of this scheme, in partnership with the Department for the Economy and the Department of Finance, engaging directly with the arts and creative sectors in its design.
Write to the First Minister and deputy First Minister urging that this proposal be treated as a priority within the Executive’s Programme for Government and future budget-setting processes.

This Council note with concern the significant gas leak from industrial premises at Granville Ecopark on Friday 8th May 2026, impacting as far away as the village of Eglish.
This Council further recognises the significant ongoing odours emanating from industrial premises in the Council Area, especially those in the Granville and the Cabragh Areas and the ongoing concerns of the residents living in these areas. 
Council notes with concern that residents and communities have experienced repeated instances of odours for years with no improvement despite NIEA regulations and sanctions.
Council agrees:
• To write formally to the DAERA Minister and to NIEA Chief Executive outlining these concerns and seeking an urgent update regarding this incident. 
Council further agrees:
• To write to NIEA Chief Executive to request an urgent meeting to discuss this recent gas leak, sanctions and preventative measures to ensure this does not continue to affect the community in Granville. To update council on progress with addressing issues relating to the ongoing issue in Granville and regarding the ongoing odours in the Killeeshil/Cabragh area.