Irish One Direction member Niall Horan was seen in New York City this past weekend having the craic at The Late Late Bar – a modern, clubby rendition of an Irish bar on the Lower East Side, geared toward young professionals.

“We got a phone call about an hour before he came down saying that he wanted to check it out. He stayed for a couple of hours,” Dublin co-owner of the The Late Late Bar James Morrissey told IrishCentral in an interview.

Horan had great fun with the relaxed crowd and didn’t have any problems with flocking fans. He also got behind the DJ booth and played a short set for the bar.

“The clientele we get here are young professionals – they aren’t as frenzied when they see a famous person. He definitely liked the fact that there was a chilled out vibe and he wasn’t getting mobbed,” 27-year-old Morrissey said. “Customers just wanted to respectfully hang out.”

The Late Late Bar, which just opened in June, is co-owned by Morrissey, a young Dublin professional himself, and Rob Ackroyd, the lead guitarist of hit band Florence and the Machine.

While it has everything you want out of an Irish bar – a vast selection of Irish whiskeys and beers, vintage Irish portraits and bar stools covered in tweed – its atmosphere is anything but your traditional Irish pub.

“It’s a next-generation Irish venue,” Morrissey said.

It has hot DJs and playlists, a young but mature crowd, and a fine menu of ‘Guinness 2.0’ drinks with anything but your standard pint: from Guinness daiquiris to Guinness cocktails over ice with a mint leaf.

Because of this concept, much of the crowd consists of Irish young professionals who’ve relocated to New York City. “They’re integrating very well here,” Morrissey said.

Niall Horan is a great ambassador for the next generation of Irish individuals succeeding internationally,” he continued.

The Late Late Bar is on East Houston Street in NYC, open nightly from 4 pm to 4 am.