Collon publican Leo Martin gets Dutch TV spot
Local man has made ‘Mad Molly’s’ the place to go to in city of Breda
A COLLON man who made the Dutch city of Breda his home 23 years ago enjoyed his own moment of fame on Dutch TV recently.
Leo Martin featured in ‘Foreign Affairs’ - a programme detailing how those from other countries had made their mark in the Netherlands.
Leo opened his own pub, ‘Mad Mollys’ three years ago and it has proved to be a glowing success.
But his early days in the country were pretty interesting - going to a language school to learn Dutch and having to get used to breakfast - chocolate and ginger bread!
He met his future wife, Inge, while working in a pub and when their family came along, he was determined to start working for himself.
And that’s where he discovered crowd funding.
It’s a platform where private investors help you secure a business and he had an aim of raising €67,000 in 60 days.
Within days, people had helped him realise his dream after he raised half the money in the first 24 hours.
He told the TV show that he had to tell people that he didn’t need their money!
He decided on a location and of course, made sure it was an Irish bar.
‘ The bar was the right size, not too big, not too small. We wanted a traditional Irish pub,’ he stated.
He says it feels like a community centre now, people coming in from work and talking about their day. He even sponsored a local football team.
He says the future is bright and he might even consider opening another bar in the Breda area.
Given his growing name, Leo gets plenty of family and friends travelling over from Collon and surrounds and you might even spot a Mattock Rangers jersey on the wall if you are lucky.
Given the success of the Dutch darts players, he had made that sport a priority in the pub while he also holds some unusual events - a red head day being one.