It’s lucky that Danny Rampling was born in London rather than Dublin. Had he been, he would probably have burst a blood vessel after he’d read what I’m about to write. Allow me to explain.

You see, Rampling is against the idea of a universal basic income. It’s one of those fancy ideas floated about of giving every citizen a minimum amount of money each month, although you’d be hard pressed to find any country actually doing it. The libertarian within Rampling believes that universal basic income is a way for the state to increase its power.

So I suspect he’d spit out his Sunday roast with fury at the news the Irish government are experimenting with the idea for a specific sector – artists! Yes, they’re soon going to introduce a trial of basic income to aid with their recovery after the past two years. A figure of €325 (£271) per week is being floated about – or €16,900 per year, excluding any possible Christmas bonus.

Personally, I have to question how popular the idea of criticising the government would be if artists were receiving €325 directly from said government – but not surprisingly, I’m told that basic income appears to be getting a fairly warm reception in Dublin’s creative quarters. Whether legislators will like it, though, remains to be seen.

Let’s just hope Danny Rampling doesn’t decide to take a trip over the Irish Sea to kick up a fuss. He’s unlikely to – the presumably unvaccinated Runny Dumpling will have to take a PCR test to gain entry. And we all know Rampling isn’t the type to comply – except when he is…