Origins of Basic Income Ireland
Basic Income Ireland is a network of people working towards making universal basic income a reality in Ireland. The network was formerly called BIEN Ireland, which was one of the oldest of the national affiliates of the Basic Income Earth Network (BIEN). BIEN Ireland had a relatively low public profile, however, so in May 2011, it held a general meeting, in order to renew efforts towards a basic income and to get more people involved in the network. In Sept 2012, we decided to change our name to Basic Income Ireland, since that name is more self-explanatory and readily understood.
Members of Basic Income Ireland are all volunteers. We come from a variety of backgrounds: community development, activism, academia, politics, religion, farming, care work, creative or artistic work, teaching, learning, research, healthcare, engineering, trades unions, and supporting voluntary groups and NGOs. Some of us have full or part-time time jobs, others are retirees, self-employed, running small businesses or working without pay.
Some of the members have been thinking, writing and campaigning about basic income for several years and have contributed to international BIEN conferences on many occasions. Others were less familiar with the concept of basic income when they started coming to the network meetings in 2011. During the first 17 months of the re-activated network, we organised our meetings and activities so that we all learned more about basic income and how it would affect different kinds of people in society. You can read a longer account of the way we organised our activities here.
Everyone is welcome to get involved, in big or small ways. You can also join our email list, to receive reports of our meetings and other notifications. Please send an email to basic.income@nuim.ie if you wish to join the mailing list, or if you have a query that this website does not cover.
Members of Basic Income Ireland are all volunteers. We come from a variety of backgrounds: community development, activism, academia, politics, religion, farming, care work, creative or artistic work, teaching, learning, research, healthcare, engineering, trades unions, and supporting voluntary groups and NGOs. Some of us have full or part-time time jobs, others are retirees, self-employed, running small businesses or working without pay.
Some of the members have been thinking, writing and campaigning about basic income for several years and have contributed to international BIEN conferences on many occasions. Others were less familiar with the concept of basic income when they started coming to the network meetings in 2011. During the first 17 months of the re-activated network, we organised our meetings and activities so that we all learned more about basic income and how it would affect different kinds of people in society. You can read a longer account of the way we organised our activities here.
Everyone is welcome to get involved, in big or small ways. You can also join our email list, to receive reports of our meetings and other notifications. Please send an email to basic.income@nuim.ie if you wish to join the mailing list, or if you have a query that this website does not cover.