About Us
We give life to
your business idea
ICE is a not for profit charity which was established in 1992 to help unemployed individuals to establish their own businesses in Dublin’s Inner City. It operated very successfully till 2006 supporting the set up of over 2,500 new businesses. During the Celtic Years and due to the very high employment figures, ICE became very low key. But then at the start of the Recession-ICE re-launched in 2012 and offers the same supports as before. However ICE has expanded its brief to a citywide brief and now also offers its services to social enterprises and youth entrepreneurs.
ICE RELAUNCHED ITS SERVICES IN 2012
AND SINCE THEN WE HAVE
Registered Over 3250 Clients With Our Services
Supported 1520 Businesses To Get Started
Trained 511 Young People in Hard & Soft Business Skills
Runs 45-50 Business Related Training Workshops a Year
Holds 8-10 Client Net-working Events a Year
With St Patricks University Hospital runs the ‘Back In Action Programme’ for service users of St Patricks
Runs 3 monthly 2 Day SYOB Programmes in partnership with META for the Ukrainian Community
Runs a range of Programmes for Refugees & Asylum Seekers in Direct Provision Centres
Is in the process of establishing an ICE Social Enterprise Hub in Dublin 7
ICE ENTERPRISE SUPPORTS
The ICE Enterprise development officers provide one to one business advice and support to enterprise clients including:
- General advice and support for clients considering self-employment
- Assistance and advice on company and tax registration
- Access to incentives such as the Back to Work Enterprise Allowance
- Assistance with loan and grant applications
- Enterprise workshops including bookkeeping, taxation, social media, and sales and marketing.
- Assistance with the preparation of a business plan
- Access to a panel of voluntary mentors
ICE FINANCIAL SUPPORT
ICE offers micro loan finance from €1,000 – €5,000 over a 3-year period to viable new enterprises for the following:
- Capital Expenditure
- Working Capital
- Business Premises
ICE also work with Micro Finance Ireland, who are providers of loan finance of between €1,000-€25,000.
ICE offer grant support to social enterprises through the Dublin City social enterprise awards.
Evanne Kilmurray
Chief Executive Officer
Evanne is the founder and current CEO of ICE. Evanne has served as a non-executive board director of Forbairt, Telecom Eireann, An Post and MFI. She has been a mentor to the marketing development programme in the Smurfit school of Business and a member of the advisory committee to the Ireland Fund, as well as a trustee of Dublinia. She is currently a trustee of SPADE Enterprise Centre, the secretary of the INOU and the vice chair of the Dublin City Community Co-Op.
Catherine Whelan
Programme Co Ordinator
With 30 years business experience working in partnership with government agencies, corporate clients and not for profit organisations Catherine brings a wealth of experience, knowledge and professionalism to her role with ICE. Catherine previously had her own recruitment agency, employing 3 full time staff, and over 300 outsourced contract employees working across several industry sectors. Catherine is a passionate business mentor who is deeply committed to helping SME’s and Social Enterprises to optimise their performance and achieve their business goals.
Darren Jones
Enterprise Development Officer
Darren has over 30 years’ experience in business development, having worked in both the private and public sectors, supporting a wide range of businesses from start-ups and sole traders to SMEs and larger corporates. Darren brings his broad range of experience and expertise as well as his enthusiasm for supporting entrepreneurs and social enterprises to his work with ICE.
Brendan Finn
Enterprise Development Officer
Brendan has over 20 years’ experience in Business Development working in a varied range of industries from FMCG to online. Having run his own business for 6 years, Brendan moved into the community sector supporting small business owners to get their enterprises off the ground as well as supporting existing businesses to remain sustainable and grow. Brendan has a level 8 in Adult Guidance from Maynooth University, and brings a wealth of experience to the team in ICE, who will support the Entrepreneurs of the future.
Geraldine Russell
Accountant
Geraldine Russell CPA has over 30 years’ experience in a variety of finance and IT positions in a range of different companies and industries. She has a broad background in finance, treasury, project management and systems development covering a range of industries. Geraldine currently provides the financial function for Inner City Enterprise Ltd to assist unemployed people create their own self-employment.
