This is the first chapter of the Lunch Club to come to Dublin and, at 12.45pm on a rainy Saturday afternoon, things initially don't look hopeful. The brainchild of New Yorker Jared Nissim, the Lunch Club is for people who don't know each other to come together, have a meal and make some new friends. It's like speed dating, but strictly platonic.

This kind of thing might work well in New York, where blind dates and meeting strangers are everyday events, but how will such a notion go down? Five minutes in yesterday and the answer is clear: very well.

People are queuing all the way up the stairs of the Odessa Club, where the event is scheduled at a cost of just 5 a head. The restaurant manager is concerned about space and waiters are running around trying to find spare chairs . . . 49 people booked online, but many more arrived on spec and have to be turned away.

Every table in the lower floor of the Odessa is full. Men and women of all ages are ordering their lunch and starting conversations. It's amazing what five minutes can do. What starts as a faltering 'what's your namef where are you from?' quickly turns into a conversation about chocolate, schools or even a spirited debate on the merits of Long Island.

"I was really very nervous when I first arrived, " confesses Mairead from Dublin. All her friends are married with children and she has wanted to broaden her social scene for some time now. "It took me a long while to click the button on the registration website, I can tell you." But she's very glad she came. "It's so much easier than I thought. Everyone is lovely."

Kathleen Henderson and Evelyn Blennerhassett, both from Dublin, arrived together because they "love to meet new people."

"This is a new concept to Dublin and I think it's great. There's a lot of other people here who obviously feel the same so that's very reassuring."

Paul Downes drove all the way from Mullingar. "Everyone is working so hard these days that they're not taking the time to get to know each other. The social scene is desperate, you never get to actually know anyone. I think this is a great idea."

So much so, that he's thinking of getting involved in something similar.

"There's definitely a market for it, " he says thoughtfully, before getting back to the business of meeting new people.