This Kerryman didn’t just walk into a bar in Bratislava. He opened one

The International, the newest foreigner hangout in Bratislava, began life as a basement speakeasy just before Covid started. My business partner and fellow comedian, Mitch Leffler of Vermont in the US, was offered the use of his apartment building’s basement by his landlord. We were overcome by the possibilities of this blank room, so we decided to host events and sell alcohol there.

G21, as we called it then, hosted stand-up comedy, language exchanges, board game nights and acoustic jams. The only problem was that this was in the bottom floor of an apartment building, so in the short time we were open in between lockdowns we managed to annoy every resident in the building. We lasted around six months before the landlord’s mother shut us down.

Many of us felt powerless in the face of such a hurricane of history happening mere hours away from us

But the experience was invaluable. After that, we knew what we wanted. An events space for foreigners in Bratislava that did not impinge on our neighbours’ right to a quiet life. And so we set out to find a suitable venue and traverse the minefield of Slovak bureaucracy so that we would become legitimate business owners.

We opened the bar in late February 2022. The space (in a non-residential building) used to be an Iranian-run shisha bar. Before that, it was a Nepalese cafe.

Can we finally say goodbye to shaming women for letting their hair go grey?

---

100 great restaurants and places to eat around Ireland this summer

---

Robert De Niro’s raging at Trump outside courthouse was an extraordinary moment in American public life

---

Midlands-North-West: Battle for final seat could end with a small party making a breakthrough

---

The same week we opened, Russia invaded Ukraine. Many of us felt powerless in the face of such a hurricane of history happening mere hours away from us.

Mitch, with his American optimism, had the brainwave of selling a Ukraine-themed drink for charity. One of our bar staff, Tamara, hails from Poltava in central Ukraine. Through her we were able to directly donate funds raised to individual people involved in humanitarian relief in both Lviv and the east of Ukraine. Tamara and the wider Ukrainian community have organised Ukrainian events where refugee families (women and children) come to play games here, listen to music and eat salo (salty pork).

I went on Liveline earlier this year to talk about our Ukraine drink of blackcurrant gin layered on pineapple juice in a shot glass to make a Ukrainian flag. The topic was drinks with offensive names. In particular, the Irish Car Bomb. We also talked about a drink available in Dublin called Peace for Ukraine where only €2 of the €10 price tag goes to charity. I spoke about how the full €2 price of our shot was being donated directly to people in Ukraine. What I did not tell Joe Duffy, for fear of opening a can of worms, was that we have a few drinks with unsavoury names relating to the human body on our menu. Best not to poke the bear.

The bar here in Bratislava is small enough, we can fit about 60 people in at a push. As well as Ukraine nights, we have hosted Indian nights, Arabic nights and yes, Irish nights. For these events we reach out to friends of ours with these backgrounds to set the music, activities and maybe even help us prepare a few speciality drinks for the night. Although alcohol is not allowed in Islam, there are quite a few Arab Muslims in Bratislava - mainly Egyptians - who enjoy a pint now and then.

We might not have clarity of design and décor, but we have clarity of purpose

Music is a big part of what we want to do. We have had rock bands, drum and bass DJs, and a Kenyan/Gabonese Hip-Hop group (shout out to Wakanda Wision). We’re also dipping our toes into more cultural events – poetry readings, board game nights, and talks on hitchhiking and Buddhism.

Right now I’m trying my hardest to get the mayor of Bratislava, Matuš Vallo (who is an architect and plays bass in a rock band), to give a talk about the architecture of Bratislava. We will also host some events for the Fjúžn (pronounced Fusion), an intercultural arts festival that has been running here in Brat Vegas for 17 years.

Some people can be confused when they enter the bar. They don’t know what to make of us, what vibe we’re going for. The decor is indeed a bit all over the place – right now we’re a mix of blue and peach-coloured walls, a painting of the Willie O’Dea gun photograph that I did and some Moroccan lampshades left over from the shisha bar. However we are building a community and that is something that trendier bars in the centre of the city don’t necessarily have. We might not have clarity of design and decor, but we have clarity of purpose.

Perhaps the thing I am most happy about is our comedy open mics. Since we started regular open mics every two weeks, we have blooded four or five new comedians. We are building, brick by brick, a resilient stand-up scene in Bratislava that I hope will one day rival what they have in our neighbouring cities Prague and Vienna. In fact, it turns out all you need to do that in a city like Bratislava is have two comedians open a bar.

Oscar Brophy is from Ballyheigue, Co Kerry. He has lived in Bratislava, Slovakia since 2016

If you live overseas and would like to share your experience with Irish Times Abroad, email abroad@irishtimes.com with a little information about you and what you do