Faolan shrugs easily. "It's there if you need it," he says, but he doesn't press the matter. He knows as well as anyone what it's like to want to be independent. And taking a handout from the boss is pretty much anything but. He sits back in his chair and reaches for his coffee, taking a careful sip.

"Well, if anything," he says, surveying the (fairly empty) sitting room, "there's free food for anyone to pass through, while it lasts. I'm not sure that I can call this a success in bringing people together. But I never thought it would be that easy besides."