Fumbally Exchange
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Fumbally Exchange is a community of artists, designers and business people operating from shared office spaces in The Liberties, Dublin and in the Viking Quarter, Waterford.[1][2] It was established in 2010 by architect, George Boyle, on Dublin’s Fumbally Lane as a response to the recession which impacted Ireland's architecture and design industry, and specifically to the closure of Murray Ó Laoire Architects in March 2010.[1][3][4] It won the Diageo Arthur Guinness Fund "Social Entrepreneur of Ireland" programme in 2011 and a Social Entrepreneurs Ireland award in 2012.[5] In 2013, the non-profit organisation moved to Dame Lane and relocated a second time to Blackpitts in 2018.[6]
Fumbally Exchange was established as a not-for-profit design and innovation hub in April 2010 on Fumbally Lane in Dublin’s Liberties and was formally launched by Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade, Eamon Gilmore in June 2011 by which time there were over 40 start-up businesses operating from the space.[7][8] The name was partly inspired by the Metropolitan Exchange in Brooklyn, New York, a collaborative workplace that Time magazine listed as one of the "top ten places to watch in 2010".[9] In a 2011 feature on the aftermath of the economic crash in Europe, the Wall Street Journal highlighted the Fumbally Exchange's innovative response to the challenges facing the country in the wake of massive unemployment and the economic downturn.[10]
In 2012 a second office was opened in Balbriggan, Co. Dublin by Minister for Health, James Reilly, where it was seen as a vital step in the economic regeneration of the town.[11] In 2013, the head office relocated to the former Hely’s Printing Works building on Dame Lane in Dublin’s city centre and opened a new location in Waterford’s Viking Quarter supported by Waterford City and County Council.[12][13] In 2014, the Dame Lane office was formally launched by President Michael D. Higgins who praised the community for using their “creative capital” to “make a response in difficult times”.[14][15] By 2016, the Fumbally Exchange had a sister office in Ravenna, Italy.[16]
In 2018 there were more than 100 people working at the Dame Lane offices when the building was sold by its owner Eir.[17] The community relocated to its current location on Blackpitts in Dublin's Liberties later that year.[1]