Made in Dublin: Alternative Dublin shows a different side to the city

“It's really cool that you can do something in college for fun, and it can become your job.”

It was while travelling through South America that Diarmuid McCleary came up with the idea for his creative ‘drink and draw’ events.

Watching a group of men painting sugar skulls in a bar in Mexico, he quietly made an important decision.

“At the time, I was completely broke and in debt,” he explains. “I was thinking, ‘I'm going to try and do this when I go home. I'm going to set this up – painting in pubs – and make it fun and exciting.”

When the former college ents officer came back to Dublin, he found that he couldn’t get a job. Suddenly, a fun idea went from choice to necessity.

“I went home to Ireland with absolutely nothing. I was just out of a relationship as well, and I was like, 'This is the worst time ever',” he says. “When you have nothing, you kind of focus on something a lot.”

The concept had first come up six years prior, when the creative spirit was studying film and broadcasting at TU Dublin and set up an art and design society.

“We started these painting workshops, where you could drink wine and paint,” he explains. “We just did it for fun... We never thought it would become a business in a million years. Sometimes 30 or 40 students would show up, it was mad!”

Fast forward to the present, and the Monaghan native finds himself at the helm of his own business, Alternative Dublin – an umbrella term for the events he’s been running solo with the help of artsy pals for over a year now.

They include everything from walking tours, BYOB art parties and photowalks to naked neon life drawing and graffiti workshops.

“It grew really fast,” McCleary reveals. “A company were asking us, 'Would you do a team building event?' and we were like, 'We can't do a team building event!' But then I thought, ‘Okay let's do it’.”

Since then, McCleary and his creative cohort have worked with major corporations including Facebook, Salesforce and Accenture.

But public workshops and tours are still very much his main focus: “In June last summer, we set up seven different events in a month. Every time we put something up, it just sells out! It's going really really well.”

Alternative Dublin events are typically “70 per cent locals, 30 per cent tourists”, he says. Why does he think they’ve been such a hit with Dubliners and visitors alike?

“Sometimes people who live in the city centre will say [on tours], 'Oh my God, there's so many things about Dublin I didn't know or didn't see before',” he says... When someone says that to you, it's very nice.”

However the attraction for those just visiting or new to the city is clear too, with the boho-style businessman keen to emphasise that the chance to socialise with new people is also key to their events.

What else sets them apart in a busy marketplace? “When tourists think of the city, they think of Guinness, leprechauns and all that,” McCleary laughs.

“But there's so much more to Dublin than that... that's why we called it Alternative Dublin. The whole idea is telling people about a personal side of Dublin, rather than just a script.”

The fact the business has grown so quickly is as much a surprise to him as  anyone – despite the long hours he’s had to put in.

“I've ditched a lot of my social life for the past year,” he admits. “Not going to people's weddings, just being like, 'No I can't go, I've no one else to do this, so I need to be here'.”

The entrepreneurial dabbler isn’t one for taking life too seriously, but nowadays – with one full-time member of staff and another part-time– he has had to put his professional hat on.

“I was doing everything myself, but you can't do everything, it's impossible,” he admits. “What happens is that when you take on too much stuff, you kind of drop the ball. Either you're late paying staff, or someone is unhappy because you're not responding to them in time.”

Recently, Emma McNulty – another TU graduate –  has joined him to shoulder the burden and the pair are very excited for what 2020 has in store. But what keeps him focused as the pressure mounts?

“The motivation is just to try and achieve something and make people happy,” McCleary says.

“A lot of people who come to our events have responsibilities, families... all of that... and they come to us for a few hours of fun. Just seeing people smiling and laughing, is probably the best pleasure I kind of get out of life.”

With a sell-out calendar of events of the next two months, it appears this youthful enthusiasm is infectious.

To find out more about Alternative Dublin’s events, visit their website at www.drinkanddraw.ie.