Adventures across the island of Ireland

[Irish Jig] Say hello to the island of Ireland. It's a beautiful country with a rich history of legends and tales. The people are a soulful bunch with the reputation of being up for the craic. I've come to put that to the test and uncover what the island of Ireland has to hold. The purpose of my visit is simple: to hunt down the thrills, meet the people and see how they like to have a good time. Welcome to Ireland! [Spits] Whoo! They call it the island of Ireland, because it's made up of two separate countries. Northern Ireland, which is part of the UK and the Republic of Ireland in the South. We start our journey in Northern Ireland. And what better place to start than the capital city of Belfast? Historically, Belfast had a massive shipping

industry, building many ships and cruise liners here. The most famous of which was the Titanic. If you take a look behind me, this is exactly where the Titanic was built. And it will go right up many metres above us before it set sail - and then we all know how that ended - -for Jack and Rose. The Titanic was too large to be harboured. So in order to get people on the boats, they had to ship them to the boat. You may remember in the film, there was a boat that went out to take the very last people. That was this boat, the Nomadic. This was the last boat to ever take people to the Titanic. [Bass guitar] So, this is the telecommunications room. When the Titanic hit the iceberg and made a call back

to land, this would have been the place that the call would have come. Over the years, it deteriorated but recently they've renovated it and turned it into a hotel. But you can see behind me some of these photos here how it used to look. Take a look at the stairway. This is what it looks like now. I'm in the gents toilets, if you don't mind, I'm just going to... No, I actually want to show you something. So this is now renovated into a gentlemen's toilet. It used to be the old accounting office. This is where the old safe is, where they used to keep payslips and things like this. -That one kept in good condition because the only people allowed to use that door were the directors of the company. -Right. -The only person? -The

only people. Four or three of them used to come in here. -Exactly. If you look at this picture, you can realize one of the funnels is fake. -One funnel wasn't working? -Fake, just a kind of decoration. -So it was a three-funnel ship and then one was just put there... -To make it look massive. -Ach! That's cheating. -You can see it easy. -Right. -Look at them. -The fourth one? -Right, the one in the back. -This is Thomas Andrew, the chief designer and this is his original office. -Last shots in the movie, there is a guy standing against a wall, there is a question. -He shoots himself. -No. He's the one refused to go off. -"The raft is ready, sir," and he refused to get off. -Ah, with the big beard? - That's, Thomas Andrew. -Ah, because

he designed the ship. -I remember because... -He designed it, yes. -He got a lot respect from from everybody. -So who would have thought the birthplace of my favourite film Titanic was right here in Belfast? Absolutely fascinating to see the actual scale of the boat, when you see how they built it in the dockyard. It's interesting to see what they've done since then with the museum and how they've turned the drawing rooms, where they designed all the ships, into a lovely hotel. [Irish jig] Wish me luck, old pal. So we've taken a drive this morning, about an hour north of Belfast, through the Glens of Antrim to Shean's Horse Farm. As you can see behind me, it's beautiful. It's green, it's lush. [Sniffs] You can smell the fresh air. -So this is my horse. What his

name? -Muncher. Muncher's a big horse. You don't want to get in the way of Muncher. OK, we just jumped on our horses here. This is Muncher. He's my trusty horse for the day. [Horse blows] Taking a little stroll around the fields here. Absolutely beautiful. Ooh, no, he wants to eat something. Muncher, come on, no. No time for that. Come on! Now, it turns out all Muncher thinks about is food and women. I don't know how we're going to get along. So this whole affair might look a little bit like Game of Thrones and that's because it was actually filmed very close to these areas. Come on, Muncher. Trying to get him to gallop! Huh! He's a bit of a fat horse. Shh! -So I've heard there's no snakes in Ireland. -No snakes. -Why's that? -According

to legend, St Patrick drove them out. -But we have no snakes. We do have small lizards. -Lizards? But no snakes here. -St Patrick came along, blew his pipe, kicked them all out? -Yep. So we've been on horseback now for about an hour and we've come to take a little stop at the top of this hill here. You can see behind me how beautiful everything is here. The countryside is really gorgeous. [Irish tin whistle] Winter is coming, horse. Winter is coming. So I'm walking along the King's Road through the Dark Hedges to Castle Black - the home of the Knight Watch. Now, if you don't know what I'm talking about it's because you don't watch Game of Thrones. But if you do, then you'll be very jealous right now because I'm at the Dark Hedges. Now,

Northern Ireland is the home to many of the scenes and the plots of Game of Thrones. You can come down here and see it for yourself. Or, you can see it another way. We're going to see the Game of Thrones taking the chopper I've come up to the Causeway Coast, on the northern tip, near the town of Bushmills where Bushmills Whiskey originated. The beautiful scenery and ancient ruins is why scenes of Game of Thrones were filmed here attracting many fans of the show and tourists alike. But this is not the only reason why this is Northern Ireland's most-visited destination For centuries, people have been drawn to a mysterious marvel: the Giant's Causeway. We're going to go and take a look at Giant's Causeway which is a World UNESCO Heritage Site and the most popular place

to visit in Northern Ireland because it's got 44,000 perfectly hexagonal columns that come out of the ground. Why it's there? Well, there's a lot of myths and legends about why it's there. So let's go take a look. It's a collection of 44,000 basalt columns. Perfectly hexagonal shapes coming out of the ground. Geologists believe that 65 million years ago a volcano exploded, the lava flew into a river bed and as it cooled slowly these cracks broke down into hexagonal shapes. So the geologist's theory is a little bit far-fetched for the locals here who believe a slightly different story. They believe a giant called Finn McCool - the Irish Giant - built the causeway so he could build a bridge between here and Scotland where he was going to go and fight the Scottish Giant. But when

he got there, he realised the Scottish Giant was massive So he came back over the Causeway and said to his wife, "My God, the Scottish Giant's enormous!" "We've got to run!" And she said, "I have a plan." So she dressed him up as a baby and as the Scottish Giant came over he saw the baby - which was actually Finn McCool - and said, "My God, if that's Finn McCool's baby, how big is Finn McCool?!" So he went back over the Causeway. Finn McCool picked up a bit of ground, threw it at him, hit him on the head and killed him. That bit of land was the Lough Neagh which, ironically, is the same size and shape as the Isle of Man. So they believe that that's the bit of ground. Now, believe what you

want to - the geologist's story or the local folk story. [Irish tin whistle] To rest my head before an early start tomorrow, I've come to a small seaside town called Portrush. So it's 6.30am. I'm staying at the Atlantic Hotel. I asked them where breakfast was and they sent me down here. So, where's breakfast? [Laughter] In there. In there. I've figured out what we're doing for breakfast. I'm here on a fishing boat. They said, "No catch, no breakfast." So, we're going out into the Atlantic Ocean which is absolutely freezing. And it's already pretty nippy and quite windy. Safety-wise, that's all I'm going to say. Are there any questions about that? Are there enough life rafts for the number of people aboard? [Laughter] # The little boats are gone # From the breast of Anna Liffey #

And the ferrymen are stranded on the quay # The Dublin Docks are dying # The way of life is gone # Molly, it was part of you and me # Where's the treasure? -The treasure? -Yeah. -In the museum. In the museum, now? There must be some little bits scattered around. There are but you're not allowed to dive on it. Ah, I see. Trying to keep it secret. I see there's a lot of seagulls here. -So is that a clue that there might be some fish here? -Yes. OK, so we've just chopped up some mackerel for our bait. Put it on my fishing rod here. Now, going to drop this in. So... I'm not quite sure how we do this. [Excited shouting] [Laughing and squealing] Ha Ha Ha Ha! Woo-hoo! Show him to Skipper! -You got

one before me! -Skipper! I got one! -Tell us the tricks. What's the tricks of the trade? -I just felt a nibble. I think you guys are cheating. Everybody's catching fish except me. I think they're cheating. I think they've got a bucket of fish and they're pulling them out just to make me feel bad. (EXCITED WOMAN) I need a picture! Ooh look! That's a good one. Ooh! Have I got something? When you catch one, does it feel like a big tug? -Oh you definitely know. You can feel it nibbling. -Yeah? Right, so... Definitely haven't got one then. So I didn't catch any - but as a group we caught four. So I'm hoping, if I'm nice to somebody, they might share their fish with me. # Where the Strawberry beds sweep down to the Liffey #

You kissed away the worries from my brow # I love you well today and I'll love you more tomorrow # If you ever love me, Molly, love me now # Who wants some? Who wants some? [Woman laughing] Who's got it, who's quick? Who's quick? Where's he gonna go? Is he gonna go there? [Seagulls cry] I've got a feeling that the chef is going to help us make it nice and tasty and I'm looking forward to that. He will do. Lip-smackingly good. [Traditional Irish music] The Irish hospitality is second to none. So, despite my poor attempt at catching some breakfast I've been invited into an Irish home with my fishing buddies to cook up some freshly-caught mackerel and eggs. - Breakfast was delicious. -I'm glad you enjoyed it. We're off now, I think, to burn it

off. We're going to do something called Blokarting. -Ever done it before? -I haven't. I couldn't even tell you what it is! OK, well I don't know either, so... [Traditional Irish music] So we're down here on the beach right now and as you can see, it's very, very windy. Which is perfect for what we're about to do. Blokarting. So if you take wind-surfing and go-karting you get blokarting. Now these things, as you can see, have a sail like a windsurf and wheels like a go-kart. So you can practice windsurfing on the beach, on the ground. So how fast do these go at top speed? The top speed in the world is 62mph. So, what did I say again? You're in the "Stop" position now. -With the sail directly over your head. -But it didn't stop. No,

well it's rolling down the hill! - This here... -Woah! And once it does that, you let that rope go immediately, yeah? -OK -Steer into the wind and when you steer into the wind it will go back down. So the wind is at 22 knots today which is fast. He's had to reduce the sails twice so we don't lose control. Now, John is the guinea pig. He's giving it a go so I'm going to watch attentively while he does this. Aargh! [Laughter] Oh my God! We almost lost him! Oh my God. [Fast Irish jig] [Music crescendos] -Let go! -Argh! -Your hand out! -OK [Laughs] I didn't realise that could be so much fun. Phew, I was like a Formula One racing driver. I'm covered in sand all over my face. But it was great fun. Now,

that was fast but I hear that they do something even faster that's got petrol involved just near by. [Traditional Irish music] [Engine noise] So you're probably wondering: what am I doing here? [Engine roars] That's what we've got next. So the air just lifts this bit off the ground? -It just lifts everything... -So that part there, which is the bottom will be just a few inches off the ground? -Yes, yep. The only brakes you have on the craft then are essentially when you release the throttle the air escapes. Then you drop down and it's the friction of the hull against the ground. Handlebars control the direction And then your throttle, that controls your speed. There's no brakes on a hovercraft. I'll come to that wee bit in a minute. -Did you say no brakes? -No brakes.

-How do you stop? -The fear in people's eyes when I say that! Over in the far corner now, you'll come to the first of your two water ponds. Two things you remember going through the water: Keep the power on, you want to stay hovering and lean back off the front. You don't want the front to crash down. [Engine noise] Right, I'm up next in the hovercraft. Racing round this track. The top score or the top time so far is 2.08. I'm a little big heavy but let's see if I can beat it. [Up-tempo Irish jig] Your fastest lap - both laps were actually identical - 1.57. Ah, that was good! 1.57. I beat the record so far. But you're up. Carl's up. The cameraman. Carl's pretty good at this stuff. He's one of these guys

who is naturally good at everything. So let's see how he does. [Raucous Laughter] I don't have a cameraman any more so I've got to film myself! So basically, I got the fastest time. Carl got better than me. But Carl doesn't count for now. Well, hovercraft racing was sensational. But that is a lot action and adventure for one day. We're off now to Londonderry - or Derry, as they call it, which is known as the walled city. I don't think we'll do much today - just some dinner and then that's us out. But tomorrow we'll get to see a bit of the city. I've now reached my last stop before I head south to the Republic of Ireland. I couldn't miss out this historical town of Londonderry. Or Derry, as many people have liked to correct

me. The political history of this city and the divide between the Protestant Unionists and the Catholic Republicans is an inescapable part of their history and is still visible now. Though in recent times the peace process has meant that life here has been calm. This morning's activity is boomboarding. The Hawaiians used to do it when it wasn't good surf weather. And now we're doing it here in Ireland. I've heard it's a pretty fast sport so I'm all padded up. Wearing my leathers, ready to fall off. [Pacy Irish jig] So we've been learning boomboarding, learning how to stop, how to turn. How to control it. Now we're taking a little look around Londonderry. This is the old city wall. It's a really beautiful city. This is a really relaxing way to get around. It's not too difficult

once you get the hang of it. And you can get up to some good speeds which is a lot of fun. [Classical guitar music] [Water splashing] So we're going for a bit of midnight kayaking on the River Foyle. Now it may not look like midnight because it is summertime. The sun doesn't set until at least 10.30. We're going to be going for a couple of hours so it should get dark later on. Now we're going under the Peace Bridge which was built in 2011 to bond the two sides between the Catholics and the Protestants. Did you bring your towel? -Did you bring your towel? -A towel? No, I have no towel Trying not to fall in. Cos you put your hand in the water just for five seconds... Wooh! Pretty cold. Got a little midnight

snack. Little bit of chocolate cake. Just makes everything a bit more interesting. Ooh, my legs feel a bit strange. Haven't used them in the last two hours. But that was great fun. Really quite nice and peaceful to be out on the water there. At this time of night, when there's no cars around, you know? It's really quite peaceful. So definitely worth going, definitely worth trying out. And Londonderry's really beautiful at day and at night. Well, that's my tour of Northern Ireland and I now head south on a two-hour journey to the Republic of Ireland to the bustling capital city of Dublin. [Irish jig and tapping] Dublin is known as one of Europe's most vibrant cities. The economy has been strong in the last decade. which has only added to the buzz of the place. I'm

intrigued to find out about the way of life of the people here. I've come to find out a little bit about Irish culture and history. What better way than by learning about Gaelic games right here at its home in Croke Park? -You were saying Cork was your great-grandmother? -Yeah So, this is your beloved Cork. -So that's the Cork shirt? -That's the Cork shirt. Right, so my great-grandmother was from Cork. -And how it works in this country, that means you are now a Cork supporter. That's it. - Right. So I don't have a choice. I'm born into Cork? -Correct. -But what if... -No, no what if. -This is probably the bit you've been looking forward to for months. -Yeah! The chance to actually practice some of the skills. I'll introduce you to the equipment. That is

a sliotar. That's the name of the hurling ball. You'll gather it's very similar to a baseball. That, in a game, can travel at 180 kilometres an hour. -And they catch it with their hands? -Yes. -So 180 miles an hour and you've got to catch that? [Fast Irish jig] We're at Croke Park. It's the Hurling Championship. They need their best man on. That's me. [Audience roars] Let's go. [Audience roars] We're by the pitch now. One thing I've noticed is that it is bigger than a rubgy or football pitch. It is significantly so. If you take, say, the Metropolitano, Atletico Madrid's ground, the World Champions League is out there, the length of the field is about 110 metres long. 65 metres wide. This one here beside you is 145 metres long. -Wow. -And it's 90 metres wide.

So check this out. We're walking on the edge of the roof where we can take a look at the whole pitch. If you're scared of heights, this isn't for you. Wooh! You can see the scale. Not just how much bigger the pitch is than an average football pitch - cos it's 140 metres long. But the seating - over 82,000 seats. It's the biggest stadium in Ireland. These are all the Gaelic Games clubs. And you can see - this, just here - are the different clubs just in Dublin. If you take a look over here, there's the international teams. And here, where Asia is, you might notice the Dubai Celts, back home. Come on, Dubai Celts! [Irish accordion music] So if you come to Dublin, you've got to make sure your Guinness-to-blood ratio is above 30%

all the time. I've come here to the Guinness Storehouse to see how it's made. Leo's our man. He's going to tell us what this is, on the floor. Yeah, well this is the lease that Arthur Guinness signed on the 31st of December 1759. -Right. -He signed this lease for 9,000 years. -9,000 years? -That's right. -Who does those deals? Why didn't he just buy it? Well... Good question! -OK, Paris, want to see something cool? -OK, go for it. This is my favourite thing in the Guinness works. This bottle here. Back in 1959 they were celebrating 200 years of Guinness. To mark the occasion, they decided to drop 150,000 of these bottles into oceans all over the world. -Right. -And inside each bottle there was this letter claiming to be from King Neptune. -Who doesn't exist. -Well,

debatable. Inside each letter was saying, like, "This is King Neptune, God of the Sea. Drink Guinness, it's good for you." "It's what the Gods drink." Even though they dropped 150,000 sixty years ago, they're still being found today. -Really? -Yeah. So this is basically advertising? So people are finding these bottles all over and saying, "We've got to drink Guinness!" - Because King Neptune tells us to. -This is pretty much, yeah. -It was the first version... -And when was the last - most recent - one found? Certainly the last one I heard about was in March 2018 in the Bahamas. Wow, so still as much as last year. -Yeah. -Wow, that's cool. -So that's a 60-year advertising campaign? -60 years. Longest-running advertisement campaign of all time. -Genius. -It's in the Guinness Book of World Records. Well it

would be! [Irish accordion music] -OK, Paris, I want to see if you were listening. -OK. -Quiz time. -Go on then. -What year did Arthur Guinness sign the lease? -1759. For how big a brewery? Ooh... 57 acres. -4.2. -4.2 acres. -It is 53.5 now. -53.5. What colour is Guinness? [Mouths silently] Agh! -Rose red? -Ruby! -Ruby red! We've been taking a look around the factory at the different ingredients that are used to make Guinness. The first is barley - which is the secret sauce to Guinness. They roast ten percent of the barley to give it its dark colour. So this here is what the roasted barley looks like. As you can see, it's very black. And if you smell it, you kind of get a resemblance of what Guinness smells like. The second is the hops which

gives it that beer flavour, which is used in all beers. The third is yeast which is used to ferment the beer. And the last one, of course... [Rushing sound] Water. Sounds easy. Let's go and make our own beer. So behind me here is the River Liffey which is the main water supply into the city of Dublin and supplies the Guinness factory. So essentially, after a filtration process, this is what you are drinking. Now you are probably wondering why I've got this helmet on. I'm about to show you something else about the River Liffey. [Fast tin whistle music] That was freezing! [Fast in whistle music] [Subtitle secret coming up...] [That's Paris's mum] OK, so we're entering our first rapid here. This is a hydroelectric dam that would power Dublin. The tactics to get down this is

we're all going to jump in the back of the raft, so it does a wheelie. And then, as it goes over, we're all going to jump in the front. Don't ask me. Holy shit! -Right, get in the front, go, go, go! Argh! [Paris laughs] That was mental! [Laughs] -The tremors are not too bad, are they? -No. -How's the heart? Hanging over the edge! These guys are nuts. Absolutely nuts! Right, I mean, these guys are used to the cold. So this isn't cold for them. But, you know, I live in the Middle East where it's a lot warmer. This is very cold for me. This is crazy. I thought we would stay in the boat, we wouldn't get wet. But think again! Gotta enjoy the Irish summer. Once I've got the River Liffey out of my

ears I set off on a 4-hour roadtrip to the beautiful Galway County on the West Coast. To the Connemara region, famous for its scenic mountains, lakes and rich Irish traditions. So we're taking a little roadtrip from Dublin and heading west past Galway to a place called the Delphi Mountain Resort. We have got some activities planned. I've been told out here on the West Coast we need to pack for every season because the weather changes very quickly. This, behind me, may look like a lake but actually it's a fjord - which means it's been carved out by a glacier. This actually links to the Atlantic Ocean. It's sea water, so what you'll find in here is mussels, you'll find mackerel. And apparently you'll even be able to spot some dolphins and seals on a good day.

The Delphi Mountain Resort is where I'm heading. It has an activity centre with some unique Irish hobbies that they want me to try out. OK, so I'm here at the Delphi Mountain Resort. I'm here with Rev. Rev, why am I wearing all this? You're wearing all this... Now, this morning you're going to be doing our long-zip aerial trek combo. -Yep. -So what you have on here, you've a full-body harness and a long-zip trolley here. So as you can see behind me, this is the Delphi Mountain Range. It goes up to 800 metres. Now the high mountains, combined with the fact that this is the second-most rained-upon piece of land in Europe - because it's next to the Atlantic Ocean - means that there's a lot of fast-flowing rivers, great for whitewater rafting and kayaking. Balance

is on point. Getting ready for this baby. The zip line. Take a look at that! [Whirring] -How long is this? -Two hundred and something metres. Two hundred metres. And it goes how fast? -Quite fast. -Quite fast? That's fast enough for me. Three, two, one, go! Whoo! [Whirring] [Wind turbulence] That was rapid. I don't know how fast we got there but when you hit the brake at the end you realise that you're going pretty fast. Whoo! And with the scenery around, with all these mountains it's er... quite incredible. So the zip line is finished. Now we're going to do the aerial obstacle course which is nice and high. So if you're scared of heights, this is not for you. But luckily, I'm a daredevil. [Rattling] [Groans] [Snorts] Whoo! I wish I could say this is the

most idiotic I've looked today. But there's an Irish pastime that the locals have been eager for me to try which I think might top this. I've done some pretty stupid things in my time. I've eaten the world's spiciest chili wings, which put me in hospital. I've raced the world's fastest powerboat when I don't even have a license for a dinghy. But what I'm about to do might be the stupidest thing I've ever done. Think this is all right here? [Splash] [Spits] No! [Laughs] It's not! [Spits] Argh! [Spits] [Blows and spits noisily] [Spits loudly] So this is bog diving. Oh! And as you can see... [breathless] it's full of mud. Right? This is the peaty mud that creates these bogs which they actually dry up and use for fuel. because it's basically... Woah! [Gasping] ..it's basically

dead moss. Argh! I think I stood on a dead animal! Or something gross is there. There's something squidgy. Yuk! OK, through this part. [Groans] Right, [panting] now the locals seem to find it fun [Gasping] to go bog diving. Which is basically what I am doing now. [Groans] This is kind of like a weekend sport for them. [Panting loudly] Are there snakes in here? [Groans] Do you reckon there's snakes? Oh my God, it's squidgy on the bottom! Aaaaaah! My God! [Yells] My God! There's something there! [Traditional Irish music] [Fast drum rolls] Let's go for dinner. Phew! Right. Got the bog water out of my ears. Spruced up and looking good. Got to be sharp because we've got the Dubai Duty Free Irish Derby coming up. It's the biggest event in the Irish horse-racing calendar. Now I'm

looking for a hotel round here called the K Club. Ah! Think that'll be it. Well, this is a change of scenery, isn't it? That's because I've travelled three hours to Kildare County to Kildare House - or the K Club as it's commonly called to find out about another Irish past-time. Horse racing. Kildare County is home to many of the world's leading horse-breeders. I went to take a look at the Irish National Stud and see what goes into breeding racing champions. Now, I consider myself to be a bit of a stud but here at the Irish National Stud, there's a few horses with a bit of a reputation. I'm here to meet David who is here to show me around. -It's a lovely, warm day and I'm here with David Wardell. How are you doing, David?

How are you? -David's the tourism manager here. You're going to tell me a bit of the history and show me around? -Absolutely. -They're paying120,000 for them to have a romance... -To have a romance! And then when the baby is born it's worth half a million? No, of course it's got to be fairly good-looking and the mare has got to be of a certain standard. The lady has got to be quite a good racehorse too. But you... You'd be a fool to put your donkey - or something very slow - to that. This here is Invincible Spirit, which is one of the top horses, stallions to breed with here. So people will bring in their horses just to mate, essentially. Now, you can see here that the prize money that he won over his lifetime was

three hundred and eighty four thousand Euros. Which comparatively is not a huge amount of money. But because the offspring that he fathered were winners, that put up his value. So in the end he was insured for up to sixty million Euros. Racehorse breeders and trainers from around the world bring their mares here to breed. But the Irish National Stud is also home to many retired racehorses as well as having a beautiful Japanese garden that's popular among visitors. [Jolly Irish jig] Now that we've found out a bit about the breeding business it's time to go to the Curragh racetrack where I've caught up with Colm McGloughlin, the CEO of Dubai Duty Free who are the official sponsors of the Irish Derby. So I'm here with the Executive Vice-Chairman and CEO of Dubai Duty Free Colm McGloughin.

-It's nice to see you. -A pleasure to meet you and spend some time with you this weekend. We're here on your home turf in Ireland at an event you've been sponsoring for twelve years now? -That's correct. And I'm happy to see you here. We've been involved here since 2002. -Wow. At the Curragh - but as sponsor of the Dubai Duty Free Irish Derby for the last twelve years. Great. And I understand that, for Dubai Duty Free, you've had a lot of milestones recently? We've been doing a lot of things recently. First of all, on behalf of Dubai Duty Free, we passed two billion US dollars sales last year. -Incredible. -We have 6,200 people working for us. And the other milestone somebody might have been telling you about is that, myself, I have been 50 years

in the Duty Free industry since the first of June. - Since you were five years old? -Yes, I started when I was five. [Traditional Irish music] So betting is a big part of the horse-racing scene here in Ireland. You can see behind me the bookies all giving different rates on different horses doing it the old-fashioned way with tickets. Now I may look dapper but this is what you call, "All the gear, no idea" Brilliant, man, fooking brilliant. [Indistinct] -What's your name? -Mikey. -Mikey and..? -Pauly. -Mikey and Pauly, how's it going, guys? Now, listen, I'm looking for some tips on horses. Do you guys know what's going on? Hold that for one minute. I'm gonna read the... You need to tell me the winning horse. -He won the last race. -No, here we go. Here we

go. This is from a very intelligent fellow in Dublin. -All right. -There you go. I want you to read them three. "Three horses at the Curragh: Siskin, Knapp, Broome and Georgeville." -That's... That's your money... -I've heard that... I've heard Broome mentioned a few times. -OK. -Money on Broome? -Put your money on Broome. Thank you, Pauly, nice to see you. -Can we take a picture? -Yeah if you want. Yeah, go on then. Go on, then. Ooh... Sorry. Go on, then. -Who is going to win? -Sultan Stall. 405 Sultan Stall will not be beat. -Right. And why do you think that horse? -Well, we own it. -Right, so you are slightly biased? -Yeah. -Of course we are. -I tell you what, if it doesn't win then the drinks are on you. So here we are in the

Parade Ring which is the last chance to get a look at the horses and the jockeys to see who is revved up and who looks like they are the winning horse. After that, you go over to the bookies, place your bets and hope that you got the winning ticket. [Jaunty Irish jig] Six races down and the next one is the big one. The Irish Derby. Now, it's 2,400m race and there's one-and-a-half million Euros up for grabs. Now I'm backing Madhmoon, number five. It's owned by Sheikh Hamdan himself. [Starting shot] [Crowds cheer] [Cheering and indistinct commentary] So the race is done, the Derby is over and the horses have done their bit. But the night is young and the party is just getting started. So it's time for me to do my bit. What a fabulous

event. And what better way to get involved with what the Irish love most. I really felt like one of the Paddies. My journey ends here at the Curragh as my adventures in the island of Ireland come to a close. And what an adventure it has been. I've experienced the High Society traditional Irish culture the great outdoors and the outright bizarre. I packed in everything I could since I kicked off in Belfast two weeks ago and I certainly didn't expect to have so much fun. But as I reflect on my trip, there was one thing I couldn't show through this video which blew me away. Something that I experienced every step of the way. That was the colossal warmth I received from everybody I met. The genuine happiness and care for a traveller in their own

country. It's made me feel a part of the tribe and helped me write a new page in my book of fond memories. Subtitles by Vaishnavi Brassey (Paris's sister!)