Evanne Kilmurray is the CEO of ICE and former Director of Bord Telecom Eireann, Enterprise Ireland, and An Post. She is an award-winning entrepreneur, and a past mentor to the UCD Michael Smurfit Business School, MSc in Marketing program.
ICE (Inner City Enterprise) has been a springboard for startups in Ireland for over 20 years. In this chat with upped360 founder Michelle Joseph, Evanne tells the inspiring story of the evolvement of ICE, and her latest project.
We go behind the scenes with her in the opening part of this interview, for real insights to launching and growing a successful enterprise.
Your background includes a master’s degree in politics, work with Irish Unions (FWUI, SIPTU), and the Irish Labour History Society. You also worked in CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility), and the community sector. What do these experiences tell us about who you are?
My passion is helping people. I don’t know if it runs in the family – my sister is a community worker in Belfast, and my twin brother is a Priest. I remember one of my lecturers saying to me, ‘Evanne, there seems to be a missionary zeal in your family, that makes you get out there and do stuff’. Certainly, in my case, I want to make things happen. I love seeing people happy and you know, life is very hard out there but if you can make things happen, if you can make people a bit happier why wouldn’t you? When I first became a community activist, I saw there was a role out there, that I could do something.
What specific experiences from your work with the community, led you to where you are today?
There was high unemployment at that time, and everybody was emigrating. I said ‘no, I am going to stay here’ then I joined the Larkin Unemployed Centre as Women’s Officer, and Co-editor of the Bru Magazine (the social affairs magazine of the centre). During my time there, I wrote ‘Fight, Starve or Emigrate ’- a History of the Unemployed Movements of the 1950’s in Ireland’ – the only definitive booklet on the subject till date.
I was earning 60 Euros a week for the 3 or 4 years I spent there, but I learned so much about life there than I’d learned at university. They had a community co-op café, and I met everybody there. People coming in and out of the café, the women’s group who were old, middle-aged, and young. I was always saying, ‘let’s have a nice cup of tea, let’s have our biscuits’. and we talked about the issues of the day.
As time went on, people were coming up to me and asking, ‘how can we get a business off the ground? There’s no way we can get one off the ground, we are Dublin 3 and Dublin 1’, (less advantaged areas). We won’t be able to get money from the banks.’ Then me and my friend Kieron Brennan, now the CEO of CHI ( Co-operative Housing Ireland), came together and said, ‘let’s start an Enterprise agency that will actually help people get businesses off the ground’. Everyone I told, laughed. I mean a lot of people thought I wasn’t serious.
Despite their unique challenges, you helped establish 1,500 businesses from this demographic within the first few years of ICE. From your experience, what trait do consider most important to succeed?
Passion. I mean you could have a fantastic idea but if you don’t live it and breathe it, you’re not going to do it. I have seen so many businesses come in the door, and I can pretty much tell most of the time who is going to make it, and who isn’t. Unless you are determined and you have grit, it’s not going to work. It is also a lonely business being an entrepreneur and you need to be a Joe or Josephine of all trades. There are marketing experts, social media experts, finance experts but the self-employed person must be all of these. These are big hurdles, but if you believe in what you are doing, things happen.
ICE first launched in 1991, then shut down during the period of the Celtic Tiger (a period of rapid economic growth in Ireland, from the mid 1990’s to the late 2000s). What can you tell us about that experience?
Let’s call it ICE 1, and ICE 2. In ICE 1, we covered Dublin 1 and 3 and many of our clients were Carpenters, Plumbers, and Electricians. When the Celtic Tiger came, they all went and got jobs. I didn’t see much of a need for the business at the time, and I went on to do a range of other things, including a course in counselling which I really loved. I soon realised however, that if a client came to see me (as a counsellor) day after day with the same issues, I would soon say to them – ‘look, this is what you have to do, why won’t you go and just do it?’ (laughter) So I decided that was not the career for me. Suddenly the recession hit in 2009, there was increased demand, my chairman asked me if I would do it all over again, and I said yes.
What changes did you introduce to the business in the second phase, to reduce your exposure to future risks?
In ICE 2, we extended our services to the unemployed, social entrepreneurs and youth entrepreneurs. We also expanded our areas of coverage to cover Dublin 1, 2, 3, 4, and parts of Dublin 7, 8, and 9. I requested a grant of 50,000 Euro from Dublin City Council (DCC) in 2015. They said no. I think they thought I wanted to go on holiday – fly off to Mauritius or Bali or somewhere nice (laughter), but it was to launch an award scheme which would help people start social enterprises. This became the Dublin City Council Social Enterprises Awards. We will be celebrating 10 years of the awards in 2024.
In 2018, Youth Business International (YBI) whose mission is to help youths between 18 and 30 years get businesses off the ground, were looking for an Irish member. They approached us and we said great, yes, we will be your Irish member and that really catapulted us. We were the first enterprise organization to go into Direct Provision Centres to say, ‘this is what we can do for you’.
The week after the war started between Russia and Ukraine in March 2020, my Chairman (Vincent Crowley) and I, went to see the Ukrainian Ambassador and said, ‘we can help people get their businesses off the ground.’ We were the first organization to do this, and we are now running our 7th Ukrainian Start Your Own Business programme in partnership with Meta. We are also rolling out the SEER program for 120 refugees and asylum seekers this November in conjunction with YBI, Accenture global and Accenture Ireland. That was our strategy, that we would help as many, and train as many as we could.
You have been bullish in growing the business, in contrast to many small-medium sized businesses today. Many remain cautious post Covid. Others who downsized for instance, gave up office rentals for home offices. What solutions will your latest project offer?
People are more cautious after Covid. In the early days of ICE, we had some lovely jewellers and crafties who couldn’t afford to rent shops, or buy the equipment they needed. They worked from home and several of them went out of business eventually. I thought that was so sad, and often said to myself, ‘I’d love to get a Social Enterprise Hub off the ground’.
I was thinking about this for years, but I couldn’t find a suitable building. Then Dublin City Council (DCC), informed me of a 12,500 square meter building on Coleraine Street. I signed the lease, and we now have a social enterprise hub which we have named ‘Hub on the Hill’ because it is on Constitutional Hill. It is friendly, and a bit quirky like us. It is spacious, bright, and sits right next to a park. It is also serviced by the Luas and a great bus network.
There are single office units, co-working space, training rooms and provision for hot desking. I still have the craft sector in mind, so we are going to provide a Maker’s space fitted with equipment, which they can come in and rent at a reduced cost. We hope to attract loads of social enterprises, including sole entrepreneurs from disadvantaged areas who just want to get a business off the ground! We plan to host seasonal craft markets as there is a very big yard… we hope to host these monthly, in time.
The first part of this interview ends here… Read the concluding part in the next blog. Here are some valuable insights from the conversation so far;
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We are more motivated when our choices align with our personal values. We are also more likely to remain committed in the face of challenges, when this is the case.
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When we are present, and we actively engage with our environment, we discover the needs around us which require solutions. This is how some of the best business ideas are conceived.
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A great idea, does not translate to a successful business. Determination and grit are essential. When motivation, conviction and dedication align, the sacrifices are easier to make, and the work is more satisfying to do.
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Growth means saying yes, taking calculated risks, and forming key partnerships. Take the time to build valuable networks, and perfect the art of collaboration.
Exceptional Insights to Grow Your Enterprise From a Conversation with Evanne Kilmurray. (Part 2).
What an inspiring interview and the summary of the key points by Michelle, is brilliantly done and very helpful.