Swords Men’s Walk & Talk Group is asking local men to ditch the TV remote and join like-minded souls for a chat and a stroll around the splendour of Swords.

he initiative, formed on the back of the Men’s Sheds movement, aims to promote positive mental health in men by having them open up in conversation with fellow walkers.

Michael Macken is one of the organisers of the group: “Basically the whole idea came on the back of the Men’s Sheds; I saw a post on social media, Fingal County Council were trying to get these men’s Walk & Talk groups started, and they were looking for someone who could organise it.”

It was through Michael’s experience as working as a workplace health and safety representative that he realised the impact Covid-19 was having on people’s, and in particular men’s, mental health, he says.

Michael soon became involved in setting up Swords Men’s Walk & Talk Group, and the group hasn’t looked back since.

The men’s group was set up with the assistance of Fingal County Council and the Irish Heart Foundation and has been meeting at Swords Castle every Monday night since March this year.

Michael says: “The Men’s Shed thing is all about men who could be widowers, they could be retired or were falling through the cracks in society. Some fellas are just lonely or they might be at home married with kids but it’s just to get them out of the house and involved in something.

“It’s with a view to sharing their thoughts and their feelings or whatever with likeminded men, and that’s the kind of ethos of the Men’s Shed.”

Michael says the response to Swords Men’s Walk and Talk Group has been very positive so far, with up to 22 walkers attending weekly.

Two local councillors, Darragh Butler (FF) and Ian Carey (GR) are also regulars on the walks.

“We’re getting a lot of interest on social media for it, people asking questions, a lot of women asking questions for their husbands or their sons and a couple of people would come along on the back of that. 

“I’ve also had a couple of local mental health nurses on, asking if it would be ok for them to promote in their job, and I’ve had a couple of GPs onto me as well with the same sort of thing.”

Speaking of some of the scenery taken in on on the walks, Michael says: “We walk all around Swords…the Ward Rivervalley Park, we take that in and do different routes or cross it, down around Balheary and Fingallian’s football pitches, there’s nice walks there that can bring you up around the back of Balheary Swords Celtic football pitches.

“We’ve gone around Swords Estuary, Malahide Estuary, as far as Malahide Castle. The furthest we went any night was just slightly over 10km, and the shortest we’ve done is about 5.5km.” 

Swords Men’s Walk & Talk Group meets up at 8.15pm every Monday evening at the main gate at Swords Castle.