'Happy to Chat' bench to come to this Kildare landmark

Kildare County Council is set to introduce a novel new addition to the environs of The Wonderful Barn in Leixlip, thanks to a rather unusual motion tabled by a Social Democrats councillor.

Located in Leixlip, Kildare, The Wonderful Barn is a corkscrew-shaped building on the edge of Castletown House Estate, formerly of the Conolly family, in Celbridge.

Cllr Nuala Killeen has proposed that a “Happy to Chat” sign - which indicates that people are happy to engage in conversation - be added to an already installed bench in Leixlip Village or Confey, “or in the environs of The Wonderful Barn.”

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This, Cllr Killeen motioned, would be as a pilot, and as “a small measure to build community and help with loneliness.”

Speaking at the July meeting of Celbridge-Leixlip Municipal District on Friday, July 18 last, Cllr Killeen said she was “delighted” with the council's report, which approved her request, as she believed this was “a nice summer's motion.”

The idea was, she explained, a concept developed by a lady in Cardiff in 2019 when she noticed somebody sitting on a bench who looked lonely.

She introduced a sign which invited people to sit down and engage in conversation, with the initiative now going “viral” in Canada, America, Australia, Switzerland, and the Ukraine.

More locally, in Ireland, Wexford County Council has launched a “Happy to Chat” location network of 11 benches, which has since extended to libraries, hotels, restaurants and cafes.

Cllr Killeen said she thought it was a “fantastic” initiative, and a way to help combat loneliness and isolation, so that she wanted to introduce the scheme to Leixlip.

With one-in-three Leixlip residents now approaching pension age, she believed it was a very positive measure to introduce to Leixlip, and was “delighted” that the council agreed to bring the scheme to The Wonderful Barn.

She said she saw the council's measure as “a starting point” rather than a single bench in The Wonderful Barn, which could be expanded out to a number of other benches in the town.

Welcoming the motion, Cllr Rupert Heather (LAB) said that with Ireland facing a loneliness “epidemic”, Cllr Killeen's motion could not have been more timely.

Anything, he said, which could improve the physical and mental health of our older citizens was a very welcome idea.

A report issued by the council confirmed that a bench at The Wonderful Barn in Leixlip can be converted to a “Happy to Chat” seat, with a sign erected on an existing bench.