Letter: Save the arts

The Independent's Save the Arts campaign, and your emphasis on assiduously covering the arts, will be hailed with gratitude by both artists and audience. But could we take the whole idea of tax relief for the arts one step further by supporting individuals who create the art?

In Ireland, 100 writers a year are given a bursary of a living wage while they work on a project approved by a panel of writers. Actors, musicians, writers and visual artists all benefit from tax-free income. This imaginative approach to funding has not so far crippled the Irish economy. Why can't we have the same benefits here?

ANGELA BURDICK

Oxford