Entrepreneurial spirit

“A lot of our social entrepreneurs don’t know the word ‘recession’,” says Lynda Stopfor, head of engagement for Social Entrepreneurs Ireland, a support network for over 142 social entrepreneurs in Ireland. She asserts that, despite hard times, there is still “a real entrepreneurial spirit,” amongst Irish social entrepreneurs who have vowed to keep serving vulnerable groups, money or no money.

What effect has the recession had on social entrepreneurship?

Obviously we have seen a lot of funding sources just disappear. Before, there were lots of foundations giving out €5,000 to €10,000, a small amount, but enough for new entrepreneurs to get going. Now most of that money has dried up. There were a lot of funds that took very big hits after the crash. 

What impact have government spending cuts had?

There have been a lot of government cuts over the past two years. Discretionary cuts have impacted the whole non profit sector. Organisations in the health sector took a big hit. Before, these organisations would have had what we call ‘service level agreements’ with the Irish government. A lot of those have been cut back now, this was a main source of revenue for these organisations.

Do you worry about the effect of more government cuts?

We have a budget coming up in December and as you know we are in deep financial trouble here in Ireland. The government has made it very clear that there will be very deep cuts across all government departments, so I think that it is inevitable that the sector is going to be hit. I think there is pressure coming from the outside, from bond holders and all sorts of people in the international financial environment. The government sees the need to protect Ireland’s international interests and protect its ability to borrow internationally, so they are going to make those cuts unfortunately.

It is often said that the social enterprise model is better able to withstand recessionary times, have you seen evidence of that?

I suppose we all laugh and say, yes, things are bad, but this is the environment that we operate in all the time. These guys are use to running very lean organisations, but I do know that people have had to let staff go this year when contracts have come up. We’re now at the two year mark since things started to go down in Ireland and organisations are starting to really suffer.

What lies ahead for social entrepreneurs?

What I think is great, is there is still a real entrepreneurial spirit out there. A lot of our social entrepreneurs don’t know the word ‘recession.’ They say, ‘I see a need and I’m just not going to sit back and do nothing just because of the recession.’

How do you think the government should tackle these economic issues?

I think it’s about government being really creative and looking at the value this sector brings. A lot was invested into the sector over the last ten years and I think that it would be a pity to lose all of the potential and momentum that has grown over this time.