Catherine Martin
Head of Policy, Ireland, The Ivors Academy
Catherine Martin served in the Irish government as Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media from 2020 to 2025, during which time she led and delivered significant reforms to how the arts in Ireland were supported and funded. She introduced the groundbreaking Basic Income for the Arts pilot scheme and secured and delivered funding to many other innovative initiatives that placed creators’ wellbeing, pay and sustainability at the centre of cultural policy.
Catherine is the former Deputy Leader of the Green Party in Ireland and was their lead negotiator in the Programme for Government talks in 2020. She has recently been appointed as Head of Policy, Ireland with The Ivors Academy.