Man (89) gets back bench which disappeared along daily walk

A bench that was cordoned off in Ballsbridge, Dublin to facilitate construction work for Facebook's new headquarters, has re-appeared after an elderly man read workers on the site "the riot act".

Roberta (73) and Seamus O’Riain (89) walk from their home in Sandymount Avenue to Crowe’s in Ballsbridge each morning for coffee.

The couple stop at a bench on the Merrion Road, directly across from the RDS, for a rest on their 20-minute journey. The site beside the bench is currently under construction and is set to be the new headquarters of Facebook.

“One day his special seat that he sits on every day was gone,” Mrs O’Riain said. “There was no seat, it was cordoned off.”

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Mr O’Riain said he entered the building site that morning and “read them [workers] the riot act”.

“The next time I walked up, I think it was the following day they had moved the barrier and the seat was now available again,” he said.

“As a result of that, I wrote a note to them [workers] thanking them for what they had done and I signed it on my letter head. That was fine, I had my seat back.

“About ten days later, it was Christmas, a hamper arrived at our door with a very generous bottle of wine, a box of chocolates and a plum pudding. It was from the workers.

“I got my wife to make them a boiled cake, this is her speciality. I dropped it in and said thank you very much for the Christmas hamper.”

Mr O’Riain said he and his wife are “delighted” the bench has returned.

“I turned 89 years of age yesterday and I rest every opportunity I get. I sit at a bus stop, I sit at that seat, a seat outside Horse Show House and I sit on a wall further on and then I get to Crowe’s,” he added.

“We’re very pleased, we thought it was very generous of the men, just because I said I sat there every day. There was nothing in it for them but they had it done the following day.”