Ireland… where talent is applauded but not paid

Something you notice very quickly in this country: it doesn’t matter how talented you are or how hard you work — you still need a second gig just to survive. And I’m not talking about students or part-timers. I’m talking about fully qualified people, in real jobs, doing everything right… and still coming up short.

Take teachers. You’ll meet teachers in Ireland who also hold an Equity card. You know why? Because after a week of teaching your kids in school, they’re heading into Fair City or any other TV set for a small part or background role just to top up their wages. Not for glamour. Not for fame. For survival.

And it’s the same across the board. Musicians holding an Equity card. Actors working two or three jobs. People who trained for years in their craft now relying on a few days’ TV work a month — not to get ahead, but to keep the lights on.

Because here’s the plain truth people don’t like to say out loud:
Ireland doesn’t value its entertainment industry the way other countries do.

Not even close.

People see someone on TV for two seconds and assume they’re rolling in money. They don’t see the payslip that barely covers a bag of groceries. They don’t realise that Irish TV work often pays less than a regular day job. They don’t see that behind every talented actor or musician is someone juggling rent, bills, and a second job because the system treats their craft like a hobby.

You look at other countries and talent is supported, funded, taken seriously. Here, we applaud it… and then expect people to work for buttons.

And it’s not just the arts. This pattern runs through everything in Ireland now. Sport, volunteering, community groups — even the circles we came through in the Special Olympics world. People scraping together every cent, skipping meals, working extra hours, doing whatever it takes to stay involved because passion alone won’t keep a roof over your head.

The reality is simple:
Ireland is full of talent, full of heart, full of good people… but the system doesn’t support them.
So they grind twice as hard.
They juggle jobs.
They make sacrifices.
They do without, just to stay part of the things that give them meaning.

And that’s the sad part — not the lack of talent, not the lack of passion — but the fact that in modern Ireland, being good at something just isn’t enough anymore. You still need a second job. You still need the side gigs. Because applause doesn’t pay the bills.

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