0:00:06 > 0:00:08I'm on a journey around an exotic
0:00:08 > 0:00:11and beautiful land at the edge of Europe.
0:00:17 > 0:00:18I'm in Ireland.
0:00:20 > 0:00:24It's a place that's so near and yet can seem so far away
0:00:24 > 0:00:27and I've never really explored it.
0:00:27 > 0:00:31I'm going to travel all the way around Ireland by land,
0:00:31 > 0:00:34by sea and by air.
0:00:35 > 0:00:37This is incredible!
0:00:39 > 0:00:43I want to find out more about this island divided between
0:00:43 > 0:00:45two countries with an often troubled history.
0:00:48 > 0:00:50I'll be meeting the enterprising...
0:00:50 > 0:00:53Yes, here's success - success, excellent!
0:00:53 > 0:00:55..and the mildly eccentric.
0:00:55 > 0:00:57I just keep getting offered more monkeys, you know.
0:00:57 > 0:01:00- You would take more if you could? - Yeah, absolutely.
0:01:02 > 0:01:05This is a land steeped in religious faith...
0:01:05 > 0:01:08What are you doing? Why barefoot?
0:01:08 > 0:01:11Well, they say it's the proper way to do it.
0:01:11 > 0:01:14..and in ancient myths and legends.
0:01:14 > 0:01:20I meet people regularly who have met the fairies and you don't interfere with them.
0:01:20 > 0:01:22- Don't mess with the fairies.- Exactly.
0:01:23 > 0:01:25But in the 21st century,
0:01:25 > 0:01:28many here are embracing extraordinary changes.
0:01:30 > 0:01:33Who would have thought that homosexuality would unify Ireland?
0:01:33 > 0:01:35I mean, that's pretty amazing.
0:01:35 > 0:01:37On this last leg of my journey, I'm going to be travelling
0:01:37 > 0:01:41down the east coast to the great cities of Belfast and Dublin.
0:01:43 > 0:01:45Look at this!
0:01:45 > 0:01:49And on to the south of Ireland, where my travels began.
0:02:07 > 0:02:10I'm in Northern Ireland. I'm starting the second leg
0:02:10 > 0:02:14of my journey around the island of Ireland
0:02:14 > 0:02:17and I'm here at the Giant's Causeway - one of the wonders of the world!
0:02:21 > 0:02:25The columns here are the result of an ancient
0:02:25 > 0:02:26volcanic eruption, of course.
0:02:26 > 0:02:29But the myths and the legends that surround this place
0:02:29 > 0:02:30are much more interesting.
0:02:31 > 0:02:37The main legend is that giants used this as a road, as a causeway,
0:02:37 > 0:02:42between Ireland and Scotland - which isn't many miles in that direction.
0:02:43 > 0:02:48And it's quite a convenient myth in many ways for many Protestants,
0:02:48 > 0:02:51particularly here in the north of Ireland, because
0:02:51 > 0:02:54it reinforces their connection with Scotland and with Britain.
0:02:54 > 0:02:57The links between Ireland and Scotland have been strong
0:02:57 > 0:02:58since the Stone Age.
0:02:58 > 0:03:03At their narrowest point, there's only 13 miles of water.
0:03:03 > 0:03:06Many Protestants in Northern Ireland are descended from Scots who
0:03:06 > 0:03:09arrived in the 1600s during the organised colonisation
0:03:09 > 0:03:11known as the Plantation of Ulster.
0:03:13 > 0:03:16The plantation was devised partly as a way of taking control
0:03:16 > 0:03:20of an unruly region of Catholic Ireland by flooding it
0:03:20 > 0:03:24with tens of thousands of Scottish and English settlers.
0:03:24 > 0:03:28Of course, that ultimately led to deep divisions and violent conflict.
0:03:28 > 0:03:31For decades, much of Northern Ireland was torn apart
0:03:31 > 0:03:34by the sectarian conflict known as the Troubles.
0:03:35 > 0:03:39Protestants were mainly Loyalists and Unionists who wanted to
0:03:39 > 0:03:42stay part of the United Kingdom, whereas Catholics were generally
0:03:42 > 0:03:46republicans and nationalists who either wanted to separate from
0:03:46 > 0:03:53the UK or unite with the Republic of Ireland to form a United Ireland.
0:03:53 > 0:03:56But I'm heading now to a community where Protestants
0:03:56 > 0:04:02and Catholics live together in relative peace and harmony.
0:04:02 > 0:04:04I'm going to find out how they manage that.
0:04:07 > 0:04:12Kate? Hello - Simon.
0:04:12 > 0:04:14- Hello.- Lovely to meet you. - Lovely to meet you as well.
0:04:14 > 0:04:17- Permission to come aboard? - Absolutely, yeah.
0:04:21 > 0:04:24Kate Burns is from one of the many communities in Northern Ireland that
0:04:24 > 0:04:28didn't suffer the pain of intense sectarianism during the Troubles.
0:04:29 > 0:04:31She was taking me to Rathlin Island.
0:04:34 > 0:04:37It's a mixed-faith community in what's called a Special Area of Conservation.
0:04:40 > 0:04:42A few decades ago, jobs were scarce here
0:04:42 > 0:04:44and the island's population was in decline.
0:04:46 > 0:04:48Now there's tourism and fishing
0:04:48 > 0:04:51but Kate's also pioneering an unusual new industry.
0:04:54 > 0:04:56So tell us a bit about Rathlin Island.
0:04:56 > 0:04:58How many people live here?
0:04:58 > 0:05:01There's about 123 and it's been growing.
0:05:01 > 0:05:03- About 123?- Yeah, yeah.
0:05:03 > 0:05:06And are you...? You're a new arrival?
0:05:06 > 0:05:08Well, I arrived in 1978.
0:05:08 > 0:05:11Oh, that's very recent. You've only just got here, then!
0:05:11 > 0:05:14What was life like here during the Troubles?
0:05:14 > 0:05:18From a community perspective, we just didn't have...
0:05:18 > 0:05:20there just wasn't this division
0:05:20 > 0:05:22that there was on the mainland, even though
0:05:22 > 0:05:25there were the two communities, Catholic and Protestant communities
0:05:25 > 0:05:33on the island, and they've always worked together and played together.
0:05:33 > 0:05:35Catholics and Protestants here went to the same school -
0:05:35 > 0:05:40unusual in Northern Ireland, where education's still shockingly segregated.
0:05:40 > 0:05:42They've even ended up together.
0:05:42 > 0:05:46People on the island were buried together - are buried together?
0:05:46 > 0:05:48They are buried together.
0:05:48 > 0:05:51And that sounds, as an outsider, well, yes, of course, that's very normal.
0:05:51 > 0:05:56But it wasn't and still isn't that normal in Northern Ireland, is it?
0:05:56 > 0:06:00Not normal at all, actually. But... So, they're all here.
0:06:00 > 0:06:03And what a beautiful place to be buried as well.
0:06:03 > 0:06:04Yes, absolutely.
0:06:07 > 0:06:10Rathlin is stunning,
0:06:10 > 0:06:14but to keep this remote community alive in the 21st century,
0:06:14 > 0:06:17Kate and the other residents have had to be imaginative.
0:06:20 > 0:06:22So, Kate, where are we going?
0:06:22 > 0:06:26Right, this is quite a good place to get kelp.
0:06:28 > 0:06:32Ugh! Wet welly - not good.
0:06:33 > 0:06:36This is what we're here for.
0:06:38 > 0:06:40Seaweed!
0:06:40 > 0:06:42HE LAUGHS
0:06:42 > 0:06:46Now, to too many people, this is just something that rots
0:06:46 > 0:06:49and smells on the seashore.
0:06:49 > 0:06:52But this is a superfood.
0:06:52 > 0:06:54Why should people be eating this -
0:06:54 > 0:06:58something they think of as just a slimy sea-y weed?
0:06:58 > 0:07:01Well, it's lovely, it's a superfood and it's good for the ocean,
0:07:01 > 0:07:05it's good for you and it's good to eat.
0:07:08 > 0:07:12- Well, I would pay money for that as a snack, even as it is there.- Mmm.
0:07:12 > 0:07:16The taste isn't too strong - it's quite subtle.
0:07:16 > 0:07:17Subtle ocean flavour.
0:07:17 > 0:07:19- Subtle ocean flavour, yeah.- It has.
0:07:21 > 0:07:26Seaweed's incredibly versatile - as a biofuel, in medicine and as a food.
0:07:26 > 0:07:29Kelp's been used to make noodles in the East for centuries
0:07:29 > 0:07:34and it's becoming fashionable in the West, so Kate's started farming it.
0:07:34 > 0:07:38Yes, here's success! Success, excellent. OK!
0:07:38 > 0:07:39What have you found?
0:07:39 > 0:07:43Now, this is what I'm after today, this particular kind of kelp,
0:07:43 > 0:07:45which has got brown patches on it.
0:07:45 > 0:07:48- Can you see those patches?- Yes, yes.
0:07:48 > 0:07:49Those are the seeds.
0:07:49 > 0:07:51Really? And so what are you going to do with it?
0:07:51 > 0:07:54- We're going to make baby kelp plants from it. - THEY LAUGH
0:07:54 > 0:07:58The seeds Kate gathers here are used to plant
0:07:58 > 0:08:00enormous quantities of kelp in a farm out at sea.
0:08:02 > 0:08:05There's almost no negative impact on the environment from growing
0:08:05 > 0:08:07the superfood this way.
0:08:07 > 0:08:10Low in calories but rich in vitamins and minerals,
0:08:10 > 0:08:14Kate believes it's a foodstuff that could revolutionise
0:08:14 > 0:08:16the economy of this remote island, but growing seaweed
0:08:16 > 0:08:20could also help to meet the world's increasing food needs.
0:08:22 > 0:08:25Kate has licensed 22 acres of sea for her underwater farm
0:08:25 > 0:08:29and can now produce between 60 and 80 tonnes of food a year.
0:08:30 > 0:08:32Her son Duncan helps run the farm.
0:08:34 > 0:08:38The kelp grows on more than a dozen ropes strung out across the sea.
0:08:38 > 0:08:39Got it!
0:08:39 > 0:08:43Maybe what they're growing here will be in a supermarket or restaurant near you soon.
0:08:43 > 0:08:46Yay! Look at that!
0:08:48 > 0:08:50Oh, that's fantastic.
0:08:51 > 0:08:54Look! Here we go.
0:08:54 > 0:08:57So for us making noodles and salads from this,
0:08:57 > 0:09:00this is a lovely, fine, clean product.
0:09:00 > 0:09:03Each one of these buoys has ropes like this
0:09:03 > 0:09:05- and it goes on for miles. - HE LAUGHS
0:09:05 > 0:09:07How do you feel when you see this?
0:09:07 > 0:09:10Look, it's growing successfully here on your farm.
0:09:10 > 0:09:12I just think this is just super.
0:09:12 > 0:09:14I just get really excited when I see it.
0:09:14 > 0:09:17And this hasn't taken masses of pesticides and fertilizers.
0:09:17 > 0:09:19It's taken nothing, no.
0:09:19 > 0:09:21It's just been put in the sea.
0:09:21 > 0:09:24Is this the future of food?
0:09:24 > 0:09:26I think what we're doing here is
0:09:26 > 0:09:29the start of something which is going to grow in other places.
0:09:29 > 0:09:31But, yeah - this is what food should be.
0:09:36 > 0:09:41Feeding seven billion people on this planet is a huge challenge for us
0:09:41 > 0:09:43and growing food on land is becoming quite difficult -
0:09:43 > 0:09:46we're running out of space and people are using enormous
0:09:46 > 0:09:50amounts of fertilizers and pesticides and insecticides.
0:09:50 > 0:09:54Growing it out here in the sea like this - naturally, organically,
0:09:54 > 0:09:56sustainably - it's got to be the future.
0:10:00 > 0:10:01Back on the mainland,
0:10:01 > 0:10:06I resumed my journey down the east coast, leaving Rathlin Island behind.
0:10:06 > 0:10:10I'm now going to head along the causeway coastal route
0:10:10 > 0:10:12towards Belfast.
0:10:12 > 0:10:15That coastal route has been rated as one of the top drives in the world.
0:10:18 > 0:10:19Look at this place!
0:10:19 > 0:10:24This beautiful coast road has always been celebrated by locals.
0:10:24 > 0:10:26But since peace has come to Northern Ireland,
0:10:26 > 0:10:28the rest of the world has woken up to it, too.
0:10:30 > 0:10:34Tourists are coming back and the film and TV industry now uses
0:10:34 > 0:10:37studios in the province and landscapes as locations.
0:10:39 > 0:10:42There's one hugely popular US TV series in particular that's
0:10:42 > 0:10:46making Northern Ireland's scenery internationally famous.
0:10:47 > 0:10:51It's boosted Northern Ireland's economy by tens of millions of pounds
0:10:51 > 0:10:54and created thousands of jobs.
0:10:54 > 0:10:56It's beautiful round here.
0:10:56 > 0:11:00There's a road up ahead that's particularly picturesque.
0:11:05 > 0:11:06This is it.
0:11:06 > 0:11:08It's called the Dark Hedges.
0:11:10 > 0:11:12Oh!
0:11:12 > 0:11:16It seems a few other people have heard about it as well.
0:11:16 > 0:11:19Game Of Thrones is the international smash-hit TV series.
0:11:20 > 0:11:23It's shot in a former shipyard building in Belfast
0:11:23 > 0:11:24and at locations like this.
0:11:26 > 0:11:29We've got travellers coming from Asia
0:11:29 > 0:11:34to look at a road in Northern Ireland that's featured on a TV series.
0:11:34 > 0:11:35It's a changing world!
0:11:40 > 0:11:41Where have you come from?
0:11:41 > 0:11:43- California.- California!
0:11:43 > 0:11:46People have really got into the whole world of
0:11:46 > 0:11:47Game Of Thrones, haven't they?
0:11:47 > 0:11:50Yeah, well, you know... It's a novelty.
0:11:50 > 0:11:54We don't have medieval, you know, castles and history and horses...
0:11:54 > 0:11:58- Water, rain!- Water, green!
0:11:58 > 0:12:01So what are the sort of key things that you think of
0:12:01 > 0:12:03when you thought of Northern Ireland?
0:12:03 > 0:12:08It's... I mean, Game Of Thrones definitely influences a lot of the people I work with.
0:12:08 > 0:12:09I work with a lot of nerds.
0:12:09 > 0:12:10I work at a software company
0:12:10 > 0:12:13so we have, like, you know, comic-con day and dress-up day
0:12:13 > 0:12:18- and stuff like that, so we always have characters walking around... - From Game Of Thrones!
0:12:18 > 0:12:20So you have a dress-up day...
0:12:20 > 0:12:24- Yes!- ..at your California internet technology company?- Yes.
0:12:24 > 0:12:26This is brilliant!
0:12:26 > 0:12:29Many think Game Of Thrones has been the biggest
0:12:29 > 0:12:32positive publicity boost the province has had in decades.
0:12:34 > 0:12:37I headed to Northern Ireland's capital city, Belfast,
0:12:37 > 0:12:41which for many outsiders still has a tricky reputation.
0:12:43 > 0:12:47Before I get into Belfast, there's something I wanted you to see.
0:12:47 > 0:12:49And that is...
0:12:49 > 0:12:52the view of Belfast. Look at this!
0:12:57 > 0:13:02How many news reports have I seen from Belfast over the decades...
0:13:04 > 0:13:08..talking of death and suffering
0:13:08 > 0:13:11and tragedy and conflict?
0:13:11 > 0:13:13Hundreds and hundreds.
0:13:15 > 0:13:17And yet this is Belfast today.
0:13:17 > 0:13:20Looks shiny, looks peaceful.
0:13:23 > 0:13:25Let's go and see what it's like on the ground.
0:13:27 > 0:13:30Hundreds of millions of pounds have been spent on the redevelopment
0:13:30 > 0:13:33of Belfast since the Good Friday Peace Agreement.
0:13:35 > 0:13:37The checkpoints have gone.
0:13:37 > 0:13:40A whole generation has grown up in relative peace.
0:13:40 > 0:13:44There are still political militants and paramilitaries here, of course,
0:13:44 > 0:13:47but the majority of people just want to move on from the Troubles
0:13:47 > 0:13:50and they're often embarrassed by the antics of the minority.
0:13:52 > 0:13:56So this is, I'm pretty sure, the Cathedral Quarter,
0:13:56 > 0:14:00which is the sort of, you know, trendy bit of Belfast.
0:14:00 > 0:14:02That's where I'm going.
0:14:03 > 0:14:07I'm on my way to meet a bloke called Jake O'Kane.
0:14:09 > 0:14:12Bet there's nowhere to bloody park, though.
0:14:16 > 0:14:19Goodness me! A man with a lemur on his head.
0:14:19 > 0:14:22Things have changed so dramatically here, it's got to the point
0:14:22 > 0:14:25where people can joke about religion and politics.
0:14:25 > 0:14:29I met up with one of Belfast's leading comedians and satirists.
0:14:29 > 0:14:31- Jake?- Simon, welcome, welcome.
0:14:31 > 0:14:33Thank you very much indeed.
0:14:33 > 0:14:35What have you said in the past, Jake?
0:14:35 > 0:14:37I've said a lot in the past. That's what I do.
0:14:37 > 0:14:42I say things that people think but don't say. That's very important.
0:14:42 > 0:14:44Are you an equal opportunities satirist?
0:14:44 > 0:14:45Oh, I hate everybody.
0:14:45 > 0:14:48I have no respect for power, I have no respect for privilege,
0:14:48 > 0:14:49I have no respect for history.
0:14:49 > 0:14:51I have no respect for what's gone before.
0:14:51 > 0:14:57How would you describe Belfast today? Is this Belfast today?
0:14:57 > 0:15:01Yeah. This is Belfast. This is the Belfast I know.
0:15:01 > 0:15:03So my generation, when I was a younger man,
0:15:03 > 0:15:05we never came into the city centre.
0:15:05 > 0:15:07- We always socialised in our own little camp.- Why?
0:15:07 > 0:15:11Because it was dangerous. Because you could get shot.
0:15:11 > 0:15:12Very simple, very basic.
0:15:12 > 0:15:15And it's become busy and vibrant since.
0:15:15 > 0:15:17It's totally opened up.
0:15:17 > 0:15:19Since when?
0:15:19 > 0:15:22Started after the Good Friday Agreement. Started after peace.
0:15:22 > 0:15:25Started after we stopped shooting each other.
0:15:25 > 0:15:27Naturally, that's when things began to open up.
0:15:27 > 0:15:30Today, kids are coming into Belfast city centre, they're mixing,
0:15:30 > 0:15:33no-one gives a damn whether they're Protestant or Catholic.
0:15:33 > 0:15:37Is there such a thing here as an embarrassed majority?
0:15:37 > 0:15:39- Yes.- And are you part of it?- Yes.
0:15:40 > 0:15:45The majority here are not tied or captured by their past.
0:15:45 > 0:15:48They have... They are not giving up who they are,
0:15:48 > 0:15:49who they believe they are,
0:15:49 > 0:15:54but they are willing to reach the hand out and accommodate
0:15:54 > 0:15:57and compromise and say, "Let's find a middle ground."
0:16:00 > 0:16:04But not everyone in Belfast feels able or ready to reach out a hand.
0:16:10 > 0:16:14It's only a short drive from the lively Cathedral Quarter
0:16:14 > 0:16:17to less affluent and still divided areas of Belfast.
0:16:22 > 0:16:26Now, this - this is a real shocker.
0:16:27 > 0:16:33This is one of the euphemistically named peace walls.
0:16:34 > 0:16:37A security wall that divides communities -
0:16:37 > 0:16:41this is a Loyalist community on this side
0:16:41 > 0:16:45and on the other side is a republican community.
0:16:47 > 0:16:49And they have to be kept apart.
0:16:49 > 0:16:52And you know what's really tragic?
0:16:52 > 0:16:55A lot of these walls have actually gone up
0:16:55 > 0:16:58since the peace process began.
0:16:58 > 0:17:02There's dozens of the barriers and locals still don't want them removed.
0:17:02 > 0:17:05It sounds extraordinary, but many people killed in the Troubles died
0:17:05 > 0:17:09where peace walls had been built, and I, for one, can understand
0:17:09 > 0:17:12why their friends and relatives might not want to take them down.
0:17:14 > 0:17:17I arrived in Belfast on the most important weekend of the year
0:17:17 > 0:17:20for many in the Unionist and Loyalist community.
0:17:20 > 0:17:23The main event of the summer marching season
0:17:23 > 0:17:25celebrates an historic military victory
0:17:25 > 0:17:28in which the Protestant King William of Orange defeated
0:17:28 > 0:17:32Catholic King James II in the Battle of the Boyne in 1690.
0:17:32 > 0:17:36It secured the Protestant ascendancy in Ireland for generations,
0:17:36 > 0:17:39to the detriment of the Catholic majority.
0:17:39 > 0:17:43Marching bands like this one practise all year for the main event
0:17:43 > 0:17:46on July 12th, in which thousands parade through the streets.
0:17:48 > 0:17:50I met up with Michael Crosby,
0:17:50 > 0:17:53a long-standing member of the Pride of Ardoyne Flute Band.
0:17:54 > 0:17:56Now it's a street party?
0:17:56 > 0:18:00Street party, yeah. It's a community festival.
0:18:00 > 0:18:03Can you tell us just a little bit about the community?
0:18:03 > 0:18:06Give us a sense of the community here,
0:18:06 > 0:18:08that's quite a small area, I'm thinking.
0:18:08 > 0:18:12This is Glenbryn estate, which we refer to as Loyalist Ardoyne.
0:18:12 > 0:18:16You have nationalist Ardoyne, so we refer to this as Loyalist Ardoyne.
0:18:16 > 0:18:20We have something like seven to eight streets.
0:18:20 > 0:18:24It's been through a lot of hard times during the Troubles.
0:18:24 > 0:18:26We've lost a lot of people in here,
0:18:26 > 0:18:29shot dead, whatever, through the Troubles.
0:18:29 > 0:18:31But we're a close-knit community.
0:18:31 > 0:18:35Seven or eight roads is a pretty small community, isn't it?
0:18:35 > 0:18:40And are you...? Do you feel hemmed in, surrounded here?
0:18:40 > 0:18:45If you look down the street, you have houses that still have
0:18:45 > 0:18:49barbed wire in front of the windows. This is 2015.
0:18:51 > 0:18:55But, of course, a stone's throw away in nationalist Ardoyne,
0:18:55 > 0:18:57Catholics feel just as besieged.
0:19:01 > 0:19:05Celebrations for 12th July kick off with huge bonfires
0:19:05 > 0:19:07lit all around the city the night before.
0:19:07 > 0:19:09Look at the size of that!
0:19:10 > 0:19:14Tradition has it that bonfires were originally lit to guide
0:19:14 > 0:19:18the ships of the Protestant King William of Orange.
0:19:18 > 0:19:21I felt this was one tradition that had got rather out of hand.
0:19:21 > 0:19:24Many Catholics feel it's a triumphalistic celebration
0:19:24 > 0:19:27of the victory of Protestants over Catholics.
0:19:30 > 0:19:36I do struggle, I must say, to understand how burning hundreds
0:19:36 > 0:19:39and hundreds of pallets is really an expression of culture.
0:19:41 > 0:19:44But it feels intimidatory as well.
0:19:46 > 0:19:50What's curious, I suppose, is this sort of thing would never
0:19:50 > 0:19:55be tolerated in many other British cities.
0:19:55 > 0:19:59But here, still allowances are being made, have to be made,
0:19:59 > 0:20:01otherwise people would get very angry.
0:20:02 > 0:20:07Nationalist and Catholic symbols - like effigies of the Pope -
0:20:07 > 0:20:09can be burnt on the pyres.
0:20:09 > 0:20:13It can be deeply upsetting to Catholics.
0:20:13 > 0:20:18It felt strange to be in Belfast on the 12th. It's not a normal weekend.
0:20:18 > 0:20:20Many people in the city have no interest in the event
0:20:20 > 0:20:21and leave for a holiday.
0:20:23 > 0:20:27On the Glenbryn estate, they're about to light their giant bonfire.
0:20:28 > 0:20:32I met up again with Michael Crosby from the Pride of Ardoyne Flute Band.
0:20:32 > 0:20:34You're loading up there.
0:20:36 > 0:20:39Now obviously, we've got an IRA sign here.
0:20:39 > 0:20:41That's going to go up.
0:20:41 > 0:20:44Above it, you've got the flag of the Republic, the tricolour -
0:20:44 > 0:20:47the Republic of Ireland. Why are you burning that?
0:20:47 > 0:20:50Because this is British. This is British Northern Ireland.
0:20:50 > 0:20:53This is Northern Ireland, part of the British state.
0:20:53 > 0:20:54That's a foreign flag.
0:20:54 > 0:20:57Now, you know some people are going to say that's very provocative.
0:20:57 > 0:21:01It's not provocative. It's not. It's not a flag of my country.
0:21:01 > 0:21:04The flag of my country is the Union Jack and the Ulster flag.
0:21:04 > 0:21:08But putting it up there isn't just another country - that's the enemy, isn't it?
0:21:08 > 0:21:11- Yeah.- And it still feels that way? - Yeah.
0:21:16 > 0:21:21CHEERING AND SHOUTING
0:21:24 > 0:21:26Bloody hell!
0:21:32 > 0:21:34The heat is astonishing.
0:21:35 > 0:21:38The whole scene is completely surreal for me.
0:21:41 > 0:21:44Many people here feel their culture, identity,
0:21:44 > 0:21:48and survival is under threat, even though recent polls show that
0:21:48 > 0:21:52most Catholics in Northern Ireland also want to stay part of the UK.
0:21:54 > 0:21:58What is your ultimate concern?
0:21:58 > 0:22:00Shared space and a shared future.
0:22:00 > 0:22:02Is your ultimate concern that you're going to be
0:22:02 > 0:22:06pushed out of Ireland, basically?
0:22:06 > 0:22:07I hope in my generation,
0:22:07 > 0:22:13when I'm dead and buried, that this country is still British
0:22:13 > 0:22:17and my grandkids can still go to school and express our culture
0:22:17 > 0:22:20like I'm doing tonight, having a few beers.
0:22:20 > 0:22:24The whole weekend, we enjoy our culture and enjoy our freedom.
0:22:31 > 0:22:32What a scene.
0:22:35 > 0:22:39It's really sad to hear the fear,
0:22:39 > 0:22:42actually, the concern
0:22:42 > 0:22:46that people here have about the loss of their culture,
0:22:46 > 0:22:49their identity, their territory.
0:22:52 > 0:22:53Their sense of Britishness.
0:22:56 > 0:23:00As an outsider, obviously, I see it completely differently.
0:23:00 > 0:23:02From my perspective, the Loyalists won.
0:23:04 > 0:23:06This is still a separate country.
0:23:06 > 0:23:08They don't see it that way.
0:23:08 > 0:23:11They see their position under threat.
0:23:13 > 0:23:16It's easy to judge this community for not moving on,
0:23:16 > 0:23:18but many died here during the Troubles
0:23:18 > 0:23:21and I could sympathise with their reluctance to abandon traditions.
0:23:21 > 0:23:23There's also high unemployment here.
0:23:23 > 0:23:25Their British identity gives a sense of pride.
0:23:35 > 0:23:37It was the morning of the 12th
0:23:37 > 0:23:41and members of the Protestant Orange Order were marching through the centre of Belfast.
0:23:48 > 0:23:51I actually feel a little bit defensive about this
0:23:51 > 0:23:55because although it is odd, although it is exotic,
0:23:55 > 0:24:02this is a largely working-class celebration of their fundamental identity.
0:24:02 > 0:24:05Don't knock it and don't try and take it away from them,
0:24:05 > 0:24:09unless you're going to give them something to believe in.
0:24:09 > 0:24:10So here comes the Pride of Ardoyne
0:24:10 > 0:24:13and they're getting quite a reception from the crowd.
0:24:15 > 0:24:17I spotted Michael.
0:24:17 > 0:24:21Michael. Michael! Can we come with you?
0:24:21 > 0:24:23Yes, by all means!
0:24:25 > 0:24:29You've got a massive smile on your face!
0:24:29 > 0:24:32It's our culture. It's the best day of the year.
0:24:37 > 0:24:42- Why are you stopping playing here? Or just going to a single drumbeat. - To respect the cenotaph.
0:24:42 > 0:24:43The war memorial's just there.
0:24:43 > 0:24:48Yup, the people who fought in two world wars and Afghanistan and Iraq.
0:24:48 > 0:24:50- And here.- Yeah, and here, yeah.
0:24:50 > 0:24:53That's really interesting, cos as outsiders,
0:24:53 > 0:24:56we can perhaps forget that people here, your community,
0:24:56 > 0:25:01probably people in your band, fought and bled for Queen and country.
0:25:01 > 0:25:03Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
0:25:03 > 0:25:05And that feels absolutely at your core?
0:25:05 > 0:25:09Oh, aye. You have to respect what they've done for this country and for Britain.
0:25:16 > 0:25:19For many lining the route, it's a family day out.
0:25:19 > 0:25:21CHEERING
0:25:21 > 0:25:24But Catholics don't think this day is a time for celebration.
0:25:24 > 0:25:29For them, it commemorates a tragic time in their history.
0:25:29 > 0:25:32Some Loyalist bands still want to follow traditional routes
0:25:32 > 0:25:34close to nationalist areas.
0:25:34 > 0:25:37In previous years, enraged Catholics have rioted.
0:25:39 > 0:25:41I headed back to the Ardoyne area of Belfast
0:25:41 > 0:25:44and met up with Catholic priest Father Gary Donegan.
0:25:48 > 0:25:50So I think most Loyalists would see this weekend
0:25:50 > 0:25:54as a time of celebration.
0:25:54 > 0:25:57How do you see it?
0:25:57 > 0:26:00For us, it's a time where people in the community
0:26:00 > 0:26:03generally are under siege.
0:26:03 > 0:26:08What happens is, during a parade, the area becomes like lockdown.
0:26:08 > 0:26:10And you see massive police operations.
0:26:10 > 0:26:13Let's stop here for a second.
0:26:13 > 0:26:17Why do so many Catholics feel under siege at this time?
0:26:17 > 0:26:21By the time the evening takes place, that stage,
0:26:21 > 0:26:24people have been drinking, people have been taking
0:26:24 > 0:26:27all sorts of substance abuse on both sides of the community
0:26:27 > 0:26:32and you've got the perfect storm then for a possible riot or public disturbance.
0:26:36 > 0:26:39I rejoined the parade.
0:26:39 > 0:26:41Tension was rising.
0:26:41 > 0:26:43Goodness me!
0:26:43 > 0:26:46The Independent Parades Commission had banned marchers
0:26:46 > 0:26:50from taking their flags home past the Catholic area up ahead.
0:26:52 > 0:26:56So they're singing, if you can't hear, "We want to go home."
0:26:56 > 0:26:59# We want to go home. #
0:27:03 > 0:27:07But they already knew that the police weren't going to let them through.
0:27:08 > 0:27:11What are you feeling about what's up ahead?
0:27:11 > 0:27:12I'm nervous.
0:27:12 > 0:27:14You're nervous - really?
0:27:14 > 0:27:16Yeah, in case something kicks off.
0:27:16 > 0:27:20All it takes is one brick, one bottle - you know what I mean?
0:27:23 > 0:27:25The Orange Order and bands arrived at the police blockade
0:27:25 > 0:27:27and there was a tense standoff.
0:27:29 > 0:27:32It wasn't long before violence erupted.
0:27:32 > 0:27:34Come on, we'd better go back.
0:27:34 > 0:27:38Already, instantly... My God. ..bottles are being chucked, hoods are coming up.
0:27:38 > 0:27:40We need to move back out of the way.
0:27:40 > 0:27:41Go back. Go, go, go.
0:27:46 > 0:27:49So we've now come round behind the police line.
0:27:49 > 0:27:53I think the barricade is up ahead.
0:27:53 > 0:27:57To me, as an outsider, it all felt bizarre and faintly absurd.
0:28:10 > 0:28:12This just has far too much of a feel that...
0:28:15 > 0:28:18..people here have done this for a long time,
0:28:18 > 0:28:20so there's lots of camera crews on this side
0:28:20 > 0:28:24who clearly know how far these folk can chuck their bottles.
0:28:24 > 0:28:28They're at a certain line, then the police are further ahead.
0:28:30 > 0:28:34It feels like people know what their positions and roles are
0:28:34 > 0:28:38in this situation, because it's played out year after year.
0:28:41 > 0:28:43God, how depressing.
0:28:50 > 0:28:53These local Catholic residents watch from afar.
0:28:53 > 0:28:56The police seem to think they might get it from both sides,
0:28:56 > 0:28:59but the rioters - this year at least - were all Loyalists.
0:28:59 > 0:29:04They're chucking bricks, bottles, bolts, even traffic cones.
0:29:04 > 0:29:06The water cannon's been brought up.
0:29:08 > 0:29:09Incoming!
0:29:13 > 0:29:16An officer has just been hit just there.
0:29:16 > 0:29:19My God! They're having to drag him away.
0:29:21 > 0:29:24The water cannon's being used now, look.
0:29:24 > 0:29:28This is going to go on for hours, I fear.
0:29:28 > 0:29:32There obviously was a peace process, but there wasn't a resolution
0:29:32 > 0:29:36of the fundamental issues that are dividing the society.
0:29:38 > 0:29:41So there is now management of stalemate.
0:29:43 > 0:29:45And there have got to be advances made
0:29:45 > 0:29:49in bringing communities together and integrating them,
0:29:49 > 0:29:52getting them to live together.
0:29:52 > 0:29:54It's going to take a long time, but this situation here,
0:29:54 > 0:29:57this is a small part of the story of Northern Ireland
0:29:57 > 0:30:00and it's a small part of the story of the island of Ireland.
0:30:08 > 0:30:12The violence I saw was the only trouble over the entire weekend.
0:30:12 > 0:30:16Even just a few streets away, life continued as usual.
0:30:16 > 0:30:19For the majority of people living in Belfast,
0:30:19 > 0:30:23sectarianism and tribal conflict is largely a thing of the past.
0:30:23 > 0:30:30You realise quite quickly there's a lot of leafy, middle-class suburbs here.
0:30:30 > 0:30:32And, of course, to most of the people who live here,
0:30:32 > 0:30:35they'll say, "Well, yes - of course there are."
0:30:35 > 0:30:40But to many outsiders who still think of Belfast as being a gritty,
0:30:40 > 0:30:45grimy city of conflict, they perhaps don't realise that this exists here.
0:30:45 > 0:30:49But Belfast is not all flags and fighting.
0:30:51 > 0:30:54A lot of it is just very, very normal.
0:30:56 > 0:31:00Some of the barriers here are coming down -
0:31:00 > 0:31:02the barriers in people's minds.
0:31:04 > 0:31:05I'm off to summer school!
0:31:07 > 0:31:11Linda Ervine come from a family of leading Unionists,
0:31:11 > 0:31:16but she's become a champion of the Irish language and a teacher.
0:31:16 > 0:31:20You're from what some would say is the Loyalist royal family,
0:31:20 > 0:31:23almost, here in Belfast.
0:31:23 > 0:31:27So it's quite unusual that you started to learn
0:31:27 > 0:31:31and love the language, because that's the standard view
0:31:31 > 0:31:36of Gaelic Irish speakers, that they would be Catholic.
0:31:36 > 0:31:40Yeah. And some people would regard the language as something divisive,
0:31:40 > 0:31:43something that's saying, you know, that you're nationalist,
0:31:43 > 0:31:46that you're in favour of an all-Ireland, for instance.
0:31:46 > 0:31:49But, for me, with the language, the Gaelic language actually unites us
0:31:49 > 0:31:53and for anybody to deny that, they need to look in their British passport.
0:31:53 > 0:31:55Because if they look in their British passport,
0:31:55 > 0:31:58it's written in three languages. It's in English, Welsh and Gaelic.
0:31:58 > 0:32:01Gaelic is a language of the British Isles.
0:32:01 > 0:32:03That is a good point.
0:32:03 > 0:32:08- And as somebody who uses that passport quite a lot, I think I'd forgotten that.- Yeah.
0:32:08 > 0:32:11One of the things I don't want to do is I don't want to go down the road
0:32:11 > 0:32:15of "We're taking it back" - there's enough of that in Northern Ireland.
0:32:15 > 0:32:20What we always wanted to do was just take our place within the Irish language community.
0:32:20 > 0:32:23The Irish language, or Gaelic, is associated with being Catholic
0:32:23 > 0:32:28and nationalist, but many of the early Protestant settlers here in the north spoke Gaelic.
0:32:28 > 0:32:34SHE SPEAKS IRISH GAELIC
0:32:34 > 0:32:37I was thinking that this was the real muppet beginner class,
0:32:37 > 0:32:41- which was probably appropriate for me, but...- Did you not know that this is for the fluent speakers?
0:32:41 > 0:32:44- Yes, I think this is quite advanced, isn't it?- We're doing grammar.
0:32:44 > 0:32:47We're going to have to get someone to teach Simon some Gaelic.
0:32:47 > 0:32:51Um, please. Thank you. Two fried eggs!
0:32:51 > 0:32:53- You'll also need "Sassenach". - Sassenach.
0:32:53 > 0:32:56Sassenach - cos you're an Englishman.
0:32:56 > 0:32:59SHE SPEAKS IRISH GAELIC
0:32:59 > 0:33:01HE REPEATS IN IRISH GAELIC
0:33:01 > 0:33:05Linda teaches in an Irish-language school in a Loyalist area.
0:33:05 > 0:33:09The schools are springing up across Northern Ireland.
0:33:09 > 0:33:14Why do you think so many people are now wanting to learn Irish?
0:33:14 > 0:33:17So it's kind of strange. It can totally change your outlook
0:33:17 > 0:33:20and I think the work that Linda has done and is doing
0:33:20 > 0:33:26and the work that's happening in east Belfast is miles ahead,
0:33:26 > 0:33:29streets ahead, in terms of community relations.
0:33:29 > 0:33:32You look at it. It's 16 years since the Good Friday Agreement.
0:33:32 > 0:33:34All the work has been done in a divisive way.
0:33:34 > 0:33:37So it's all about - we'll have ten Protestants and ten Catholics
0:33:37 > 0:33:40and if we talk about St Patrick's Day, we'll talk about the Boyne.
0:33:40 > 0:33:42Everything focuses on difference.
0:33:42 > 0:33:44And, for me, all we do is, you know,
0:33:44 > 0:33:50we're not interested in we'll have 50% Catholics and 50% Protestants - we're offering a language.
0:33:50 > 0:33:52Come and learn a language.
0:33:52 > 0:33:55And we don't take a note of whether you're Catholic or Protestant
0:33:55 > 0:33:56cos I'm not interested.
0:33:56 > 0:33:58I'm interested in people who want to learn the language.
0:33:58 > 0:34:01And that's what we need to do in Northern Ireland, bring
0:34:01 > 0:34:06people together in a way that they can meet, integrate and something
0:34:06 > 0:34:10that interests them, rather than focusing on how they're different.
0:34:11 > 0:34:16This is home, so to travel to part of my own country
0:34:16 > 0:34:20and learn about the situation there has been really fascinating.
0:34:22 > 0:34:25I'm leaving Belfast now. I'm leaving Northern Ireland, in fact,
0:34:25 > 0:34:28and I'm heading south, continuing my journey.
0:34:32 > 0:34:35I travelled down the east coast, crossed the border
0:34:35 > 0:34:39into the Republic of Ireland and headed towards the town of Drogheda.
0:34:43 > 0:34:48In 1649, English forces under Oliver Cromwell attacked
0:34:48 > 0:34:51and took Drogheda under an epic siege and battle.
0:34:53 > 0:34:56As a result, Cromwell became a hate figure in much of Ireland.
0:34:59 > 0:35:02But what exactly happened during the attack is still being
0:35:02 > 0:35:03argued about to this day.
0:35:07 > 0:35:10Tom Reilly is a local historian who has made an extremely
0:35:10 > 0:35:14detailed study of first-hand accounts of the period.
0:35:14 > 0:35:16Oh, goodness!
0:35:16 > 0:35:18Tom, why have we come here?
0:35:18 > 0:35:20We've come here because this is the site of exactly where
0:35:20 > 0:35:23Cromwell broke into the town.
0:35:23 > 0:35:24- Just over here.- The church?
0:35:24 > 0:35:27- On the wall, yes. - Oh, the wall, I see.
0:35:28 > 0:35:32In 1649, Cromwell and his Puritan supporters
0:35:32 > 0:35:34had just overthrown King Charles I.
0:35:36 > 0:35:39Then Cromwell turned his attention to Ireland and Drogheda,
0:35:39 > 0:35:42a vital port that was supporting the King.
0:35:44 > 0:35:45These are the medieval town walls.
0:35:45 > 0:35:49- Old Drogheda here.- Yeah. You're inside the town walls.
0:35:49 > 0:35:50And who was inside?
0:35:50 > 0:35:55Royalists. This is essentially an extension of the English Civil War.
0:35:55 > 0:35:57Why did he want to take Drogheda, then?
0:35:57 > 0:36:01Because there was a possibility, a very strong possibility, that an army from Ireland
0:36:01 > 0:36:04could have been assembled, could have gone to England,
0:36:04 > 0:36:06and could have put the king back on the throne.
0:36:07 > 0:36:10Cromwell and his 12,000 troops surrounded the town.
0:36:12 > 0:36:14The siege went on for a week.
0:36:15 > 0:36:18Cromwell brought in heavy artillery by sea
0:36:18 > 0:36:20and pounded the defensive walls.
0:36:21 > 0:36:23Eventually, they broke through.
0:36:24 > 0:36:28- Do we know where the breach was? - Yeah, so there's a breach here.
0:36:28 > 0:36:31So the wall has been... Well, it looks as though this has been
0:36:31 > 0:36:35- rebuilt a bit.- It has.- So, this... The breach was from here to there.
0:36:35 > 0:36:37Yeah, exactly.
0:36:37 > 0:36:40So, if you were standing here, 1649, about five o'clock,
0:36:40 > 0:36:43you would hear psalms being sung. You'd be walking on bodies
0:36:43 > 0:36:44and you'd want to run,
0:36:44 > 0:36:46because Cromwell is coming up with a bodyguard
0:36:46 > 0:36:47and he means trouble.
0:36:50 > 0:36:53Cromwell and his army entered the town.
0:36:53 > 0:36:57What happened after that is what is still disputed today.
0:37:01 > 0:37:04What is the conventional story of what happened here?
0:37:04 > 0:37:06Well, like everybody is still being taught,
0:37:06 > 0:37:10I was effectively told that Cromwell, this monster, this ogre,
0:37:10 > 0:37:13this blacker than black individual
0:37:13 > 0:37:17came to my town and killed, essentially, all the civilians in it.
0:37:17 > 0:37:21And this resonated through my childhood. Everybody's childhood.
0:37:21 > 0:37:24Not just in this town, but in Ireland. Anyone.
0:37:24 > 0:37:27He epitomises English oppression.
0:37:27 > 0:37:30And what's your version of what happened here?
0:37:30 > 0:37:32My take on that is that Cromwell came to Ireland,
0:37:32 > 0:37:34encountered what was essentially an English town,
0:37:34 > 0:37:36they took the English town
0:37:36 > 0:37:39but they kept the battle in a military context.
0:37:40 > 0:37:43You're saying that Cromwell was framed.
0:37:43 > 0:37:45I'm exactly saying that.
0:37:45 > 0:37:49He wrote a document in 1649, after Drogheda,
0:37:49 > 0:37:51and ten times in that document he says,
0:37:51 > 0:37:54"Civilians are to be left out of the war."
0:37:54 > 0:37:57It's all very clear. There's a mountain of evidence.
0:37:57 > 0:38:01Tom's version of events is controversial but fascinating.
0:38:01 > 0:38:03Hatred of Cromwell and what he's said to have done in Drogheda
0:38:03 > 0:38:07further poisoned the relationships between the Brits and the Irish.
0:38:07 > 0:38:11Many Irish schoolchildren are still taught he's the devil incarnate.
0:38:11 > 0:38:13Does this all matter, now, in the 21st century?
0:38:13 > 0:38:15As I'm concerned, it's history.
0:38:15 > 0:38:17All of these things happened in the past.
0:38:17 > 0:38:21But, in Ireland, we are still inspired by our history.
0:38:21 > 0:38:24We hold our nationalism dear to our hearts
0:38:24 > 0:38:25and so we hate Cromwell.
0:38:25 > 0:38:29If you take Cromwell away, what are we going to hate?
0:38:29 > 0:38:32What's not disputed is that after capturing Drogheda,
0:38:32 > 0:38:36Cromwell tightened the English grip on the rest of Ireland.
0:38:36 > 0:38:40It was another 250 years before Ireland achieved independence.
0:38:46 > 0:38:4730 miles south of Drogheda,
0:38:47 > 0:38:51I arrived into Dublin, the republic's capital.
0:38:53 > 0:38:57Irish nationalists were staging their own parade here,
0:38:57 > 0:39:00organised by Sinn Fein, the republican political party.
0:39:02 > 0:39:04It was nearly 100 years
0:39:04 > 0:39:08since the Easter, 1916 uprising that led to Irish independence,
0:39:08 > 0:39:11and they were beginning a series of events to mark the occasion.
0:39:14 > 0:39:16This is an extraordinary story
0:39:16 > 0:39:18and it's the story of the birth of a nation.
0:39:21 > 0:39:24Irish nationalism, in many ways, has gone into the background
0:39:24 > 0:39:25in the republic.
0:39:25 > 0:39:28It's not front and centre in people's minds.
0:39:28 > 0:39:30They've got other concerns
0:39:30 > 0:39:33and this is part of a series of events that Sinn Fein are using
0:39:33 > 0:39:37to try and reawaken that sense of Irish national identity,
0:39:37 > 0:39:38of one Ireland.
0:39:40 > 0:39:41At the beginning of the 20th century,
0:39:41 > 0:39:45support for an independent Ireland was gathering speed.
0:39:48 > 0:39:51By 1915, public meetings by members of the Republican movement
0:39:51 > 0:39:55were banned, so they used the funeral of a revered activist,
0:39:55 > 0:39:58O'Donovan Rossa, as a call to arms.
0:40:01 > 0:40:03Today, Sinn Fein was staging a re-enactment
0:40:03 > 0:40:06of the funeral, attended by party leaders.
0:40:08 > 0:40:13It included a reading from a fiery speech by Patrick Pearse,
0:40:13 > 0:40:15a nationalist leader at the time.
0:40:15 > 0:40:17"We pledge to Ireland our love
0:40:17 > 0:40:20"and we pledge to English rule in Ireland our hate.
0:40:22 > 0:40:24"Life springs from death
0:40:24 > 0:40:29"and from the graves of patriot men and women, spring living nations.
0:40:30 > 0:40:33"They think they have provided against everything.
0:40:33 > 0:40:38"But the fools, the fools, the fools!
0:40:38 > 0:40:41"They have left us our Fenian dead
0:40:41 > 0:40:44"and while Ireland holds these graves,
0:40:44 > 0:40:45"Ireland, unfree,
0:40:45 > 0:40:47"shall never be at peace."
0:40:49 > 0:40:51As much as anything,
0:40:51 > 0:40:53it was that speech that sparked
0:40:53 > 0:40:57the revolution that led to the creation of the Irish Republic.
0:41:01 > 0:41:05The Irish Free State was established in 1922,
0:41:05 > 0:41:09but the revolutionaries had only won a partial victory.
0:41:09 > 0:41:12The island was partitioned and six out of 32 counties,
0:41:12 > 0:41:15Northern Ireland, remained part of the United Kingdom.
0:41:19 > 0:41:22I suppose it's the events, the historic events,
0:41:22 > 0:41:26and what's happened here that has inspired this sort of fervency in the extremes.
0:41:28 > 0:41:30The sense I get here, though,
0:41:30 > 0:41:33is there is still passion for nationalism.
0:41:33 > 0:41:36There is still passion for a united Ireland,
0:41:36 > 0:41:37but there's not the fire.
0:41:39 > 0:41:42Things are changing. Things are developing.
0:41:42 > 0:41:45But the dream of the united Ireland,
0:41:45 > 0:41:47I think, is gone, certainly for this generation.
0:41:51 > 0:41:55The Irish government had held its own ceremony just a few hours earlier.
0:41:55 > 0:41:57The Sinn Fein commemoration was a bit of a stunt,
0:41:57 > 0:42:01but they need to keep the dream alive for the next generation.
0:42:06 > 0:42:09The key event that freed Ireland from the Brits occurred
0:42:09 > 0:42:12just eight months after O'Donovan Rossa's funeral.
0:42:14 > 0:42:18In Easter, 1916, a group of revolutionaries,
0:42:18 > 0:42:19mostly volunteers,
0:42:19 > 0:42:22launched a bloody rebellion against British rule.
0:42:24 > 0:42:28Manchan Magan is a descendent of one of the leaders of the uprising.
0:42:28 > 0:42:30We met up in the heart of Dublin.
0:42:31 > 0:42:35So we have come to one of the most important, well, areas,
0:42:35 > 0:42:40but one of the most important buildings in the history of modern Ireland, haven't we?
0:42:40 > 0:42:42This is the Post Office.
0:42:42 > 0:42:45This is the hub of any empire.
0:42:45 > 0:42:48This was where all telecommunications,
0:42:48 > 0:42:51the telegraph came, all mail came. The only way you could control
0:42:51 > 0:42:54the realms beyond your own front door was through this building.
0:42:54 > 0:42:56If you could destroy this,
0:42:56 > 0:43:00you could basically destroy the stranglehold Britain had.
0:43:02 > 0:43:05On Easter Monday, 1916,
0:43:05 > 0:43:08score of rebels approached the General Post Office.
0:43:09 > 0:43:12One of their leaders was Manchan's great grand-uncle,
0:43:12 > 0:43:14known as The O'Rahilly.
0:43:15 > 0:43:17Despite being relatively untrained,
0:43:17 > 0:43:21they caught the guards unawares, and seized the building.
0:43:21 > 0:43:23So, when they came in here through the doors,
0:43:23 > 0:43:25they knew they were most likely not going to leave.
0:43:25 > 0:43:28If you're a tiny little group of volunteers
0:43:28 > 0:43:30fighting against the might of a massive empire,
0:43:30 > 0:43:33you all will be hung or executed at the end.
0:43:33 > 0:43:34It's inevitable.
0:43:34 > 0:43:37So they wanted a glorious blood sacrifice.
0:43:39 > 0:43:41The rebels hoped to take advantage of the British Army being
0:43:41 > 0:43:44distracted by the First World War,
0:43:44 > 0:43:47but the British government sent thousands of troops
0:43:47 > 0:43:49and heavy artillery into Dublin.
0:43:51 > 0:43:54A Royal Navy gunboat sailed up the River Liffey.
0:43:54 > 0:43:57The British responded with overwhelming force.
0:43:59 > 0:44:01The gunboat was dropping bombs
0:44:01 > 0:44:04and eventually it starts dropping bombs on top of this building.
0:44:04 > 0:44:05The roof goes on fire and they decide,
0:44:05 > 0:44:09"We need to get out of this building, otherwise the roof is going to fall in on us.
0:44:09 > 0:44:13"We won't be martyred in a blood bath. We'll just be crushed by a building."
0:44:13 > 0:44:16So they decide, "Let's try and escape the side door of the GPO,
0:44:16 > 0:44:19"run down Henry Street into Moore Street,"
0:44:19 > 0:44:22but right at the edge there, there's this whole barricade,
0:44:22 > 0:44:24with a Lewis sub-machine gun
0:44:24 > 0:44:26and my great grandad, The O'Rahilly,
0:44:26 > 0:44:28has his sword out. He's charging and suddenly he's ripped with
0:44:28 > 0:44:32bullets from the shoulder, right down to the belly, right across and
0:44:32 > 0:44:35he manages to crawl into a doorway here, on what was called Moore Lane.
0:44:35 > 0:44:38It's now called O'Rahilly Parade after him.
0:44:38 > 0:44:40And, slowly, he dies there.
0:44:42 > 0:44:46As it was founded in blood,
0:44:46 > 0:44:48you had an identity.
0:44:48 > 0:44:51You had a real sense of yourselves.
0:44:51 > 0:44:54Has that helped or has it been a hindrance
0:44:54 > 0:44:56- or has it just been what it is? - Yeah.
0:44:56 > 0:44:59Because the fight was so glorious, because it was led by poets
0:44:59 > 0:45:02and leaders and idealists, it was a glorious fight
0:45:02 > 0:45:05and then we became infused by the myth of that fight and that
0:45:05 > 0:45:08did have bad results.
0:45:08 > 0:45:11That led to the whole Northern Ireland question.
0:45:11 > 0:45:14The strength and passion of the fight clearly was so potent that it
0:45:14 > 0:45:19was like an intoxicating dream that has dizzied us all for a century.
0:45:19 > 0:45:21And I worry, now, 2016,
0:45:21 > 0:45:24that we're going to mire ourselves in the past.
0:45:24 > 0:45:29Our only chance now, as a nation, as a world, is to put behind us these
0:45:29 > 0:45:33ridiculous dreams of nationhood and struggles for nationality we had
0:45:33 > 0:45:37and to try and become pan-global, sort of, human-focused.
0:45:40 > 0:45:44The Catholic church was central to the identity of the new nation.
0:45:44 > 0:45:48The future Archbishop of Dublin even helped draft the constitution.
0:45:48 > 0:45:52Some say the republic became almost a colony of the Vatican.
0:45:52 > 0:45:55But in recent years, the Church has been losing its influence,
0:45:55 > 0:45:58largely due to a series of child sex abuse scandals.
0:45:59 > 0:46:02Four out of five Catholics went to weekly mass in the 1980s,
0:46:02 > 0:46:04compared to one in five today.
0:46:05 > 0:46:07That's an enormous change for what was one of the most
0:46:07 > 0:46:10conservative and religious countries in the world.
0:46:11 > 0:46:14In May 2015, Ireland took the world by surprise
0:46:14 > 0:46:17and became the first country to vote in a referendum to legalise
0:46:17 > 0:46:18gay marriage,
0:46:18 > 0:46:21despite fierce opposition from the Church.
0:46:23 > 0:46:25I went to Dublin's LGBT film festival
0:46:25 > 0:46:29to find out how this dramatic change came about.
0:46:29 > 0:46:31Hello.
0:46:31 > 0:46:33I don't have an invitation but I'm with him.
0:46:33 > 0:46:34Is it OK to come in? Thank you.
0:46:36 > 0:46:38The curtain raiser for the festival was
0:46:38 > 0:46:41a film about the campaign for equal marriage.
0:46:42 > 0:46:44I was with film-maker Anna Roberts
0:46:44 > 0:46:47and festival organiser Ger Philpott for a gala screening.
0:46:49 > 0:46:52It feels like this is such a colossal event in Irish history.
0:46:52 > 0:46:55- It is. The nation was unified.- Yeah.
0:46:55 > 0:46:58And when you see the response of people on the screen and why,
0:46:58 > 0:47:01it's amazing and it doesn't get tired.
0:47:01 > 0:47:05I've watched it quite a few times because it reminds me
0:47:05 > 0:47:07of what happened that day.
0:47:12 > 0:47:15The Yes vote won by a landslide.
0:47:15 > 0:47:19Almost two thirds of Irish people voted in favour of equal marriage.
0:47:22 > 0:47:23APPLAUSE
0:47:23 > 0:47:27VOICE ON FILM: "..a message from this small, independent Republic
0:47:27 > 0:47:33"to the entire world is one of dignity and freedom and tolerance.
0:47:33 > 0:47:36"Liberte, fraternite, egalite!"
0:47:36 > 0:47:38CHEERS
0:47:47 > 0:47:48CHEERS AND APPLAUSE
0:47:51 > 0:47:55There's a calm sense of celebration, I would say.
0:47:55 > 0:47:59You've lived through quite an extraordinary evolution,
0:47:59 > 0:48:03transition, whatever you want to call it, in Ireland's culture,
0:48:03 > 0:48:04in its society.
0:48:04 > 0:48:09Homosexuality was profoundly illegal here until very recently.
0:48:09 > 0:48:13It was pretty awful. I was a criminal in my country.
0:48:13 > 0:48:16I certainly shed a lot of tears on the 23rd of May
0:48:16 > 0:48:18when the results were coming through.
0:48:18 > 0:48:22Was it a victory for your community or was it actually a defeat
0:48:22 > 0:48:26for the Church and for the old way of doing things and the old ideas?
0:48:26 > 0:48:28I think it was a defeat for the Church in many respects
0:48:28 > 0:48:32and I think because of the way society has unfolded here,
0:48:32 > 0:48:35and the Catholic Church and the child sexual abuse issues,
0:48:35 > 0:48:38people said, "Well, actually, no, thank you.
0:48:38 > 0:48:41"We don't have to be dictated to. We can do what we want to do."
0:48:41 > 0:48:45It feels to me like you stopped listening to the Church.
0:48:45 > 0:48:48- Yes, I think so.- I think that's probably what it really comes down to.
0:48:48 > 0:48:52They lost their grip on us. They lost their power over us.
0:48:52 > 0:48:56If the Irish have that fundamental belief in the Church taken
0:48:56 > 0:49:01away from them, is there a risk that they lose a sense of their identity?
0:49:01 > 0:49:03No, I don't think so.
0:49:03 > 0:49:05I think that the results on 23rd May showed that Irish
0:49:05 > 0:49:09people are accepting. They're tolerant. They're embracing
0:49:09 > 0:49:12and they're welcoming.
0:49:12 > 0:49:14That's what Irish people are.
0:49:14 > 0:49:17Who would have thought that homosexuality would unify Ireland?
0:49:17 > 0:49:18I mean, that's pretty amazing.
0:49:19 > 0:49:22Both homosexuality and divorce are now legal,
0:49:22 > 0:49:25but the Church hasn't lost all its power.
0:49:25 > 0:49:29It's the Church, not the state that runs most of the education system.
0:49:29 > 0:49:33- CAR RADIO:- 'OK, we've got music on the way from Westlife.'
0:49:33 > 0:49:38Many think the Church has a role to play in defining Irish identity.
0:49:38 > 0:49:41At a radio station on the outskirts of Dublin, I met broadcaster,
0:49:41 > 0:49:45Wendy Grace, a spokeswoman for pro-Church group, Catholic Comment.
0:49:47 > 0:49:49You are listening to the Morning Show on Spirit Radio.
0:49:49 > 0:49:51That track is called Stars Go Dim
0:49:51 > 0:49:53and You Are Loved on the Morning Show.
0:49:53 > 0:49:55And our next guest is an intrepid explorer.
0:49:55 > 0:49:57We're delighted to have him in the studio to tell us
0:49:57 > 0:49:59what he's been up to in Ireland, Simon Reeve.
0:49:59 > 0:50:01- How are you doing, Simon? - I'm doing very well.
0:50:01 > 0:50:03Thank you very much for having us in here.
0:50:03 > 0:50:06You've been to so many amazing places all over the world.
0:50:06 > 0:50:08Tell us a little about why you decided to come to Ireland?
0:50:08 > 0:50:11Ireland was, until very recently,
0:50:11 > 0:50:12quite possibly one of the most
0:50:12 > 0:50:15religiously minded, orientated countries in the world.
0:50:15 > 0:50:19Church attendance across the board has completely plummeted.
0:50:19 > 0:50:21I'm fascinated to know what is happening,
0:50:21 > 0:50:25why is it happening, and are people who love the Church,
0:50:25 > 0:50:28who are associated with the Church, are they worried about it?
0:50:28 > 0:50:30Only last week I was in a church I'd never been in before
0:50:30 > 0:50:32and, again, it was full.
0:50:32 > 0:50:34And there was young people my age, so I'm often kind of perplexed
0:50:34 > 0:50:36because I keep hearing about this kind of, you know,
0:50:36 > 0:50:38declining figures and stuff,
0:50:38 > 0:50:41but my experience has been very, very different.
0:50:41 > 0:50:45I only got ten minutes on the radio and then our time was up.
0:50:45 > 0:50:46Right, thank you for having us in.
0:50:46 > 0:50:49- Can we go and have a cup of tea? - Yeah, we can have a cup of tea.
0:50:49 > 0:50:51After you.
0:50:51 > 0:50:54The Church itself says, "We're in trouble.
0:50:54 > 0:50:58"We've lost a grip on the young, particularly."
0:50:58 > 0:51:02It just feels like the tide has changed in Ireland.
0:51:02 > 0:51:06The sense of what it is to be Irish has moved away from being,
0:51:06 > 0:51:09"Well, we are Catholic. We are traditional,"
0:51:09 > 0:51:12to being something slightly different.
0:51:12 > 0:51:14For so long, like you were saying,
0:51:14 > 0:51:18the Church had such an influence in every area of life
0:51:18 > 0:51:21that the pendulum has almost swung in the other direction,
0:51:21 > 0:51:23where it's kind of the other extreme.
0:51:23 > 0:51:27I wonder what our identity is in Ireland at the moment, actually.
0:51:27 > 0:51:31I think we're kind of being absorbed into this globalised,
0:51:31 > 0:51:35commercial world, where, really, do we have an identity that we can...?
0:51:35 > 0:51:38They've swapped Catholicism for consumerism?
0:51:38 > 0:51:40I think so, yeah.
0:51:40 > 0:51:42Ireland's had a roller-coaster ride.
0:51:42 > 0:51:46The Republic's been through a series of incredible transformations.
0:51:46 > 0:51:48As recently as the 1980s,
0:51:48 > 0:51:52a third of the population here lived below the poverty line.
0:51:52 > 0:51:55In just a generation, it's been both a poor European backwater
0:51:55 > 0:51:57and a tiger economy.
0:51:57 > 0:52:01It's been devoutly religious and now commercialised and globalised.
0:52:02 > 0:52:06As the world changes around them, what values will people hold on to?
0:52:08 > 0:52:10I'm heading south out of Dublin now.
0:52:10 > 0:52:14I am near the end of my journey around the island of Ireland.
0:52:16 > 0:52:18But I've still got a couple more things
0:52:18 > 0:52:20I'd like to see before I finish.
0:52:23 > 0:52:26It's only about five miles from the outskirts of Dublin
0:52:26 > 0:52:30to the border with County Wicklow and a stunning national park.
0:52:36 > 0:52:39It's one of the most beautiful corners of Europe.
0:52:43 > 0:52:46I was heading to meet someone who, as Ireland has changed
0:52:46 > 0:52:50around him, has held true to his own set of principles and values.
0:52:51 > 0:52:53I'm in the Wicklow mountains now
0:52:53 > 0:52:55but I can't tell you exactly where I am
0:52:55 > 0:52:58because I'm heading to a secret sanctuary.
0:53:02 > 0:53:03Here we go.
0:53:04 > 0:53:05Secret turn.
0:53:06 > 0:53:09Aargh! Is it safe to proceed?
0:53:09 > 0:53:10The only thing is the emus love...
0:53:10 > 0:53:14- the newer, the shinier the car... - Did you say, "the emus"?- Yes.
0:53:14 > 0:53:16He's waiting for you.
0:53:17 > 0:53:19Willie Heffernan lives in this remote sanctuary with
0:53:19 > 0:53:23a menagerie of rather unusual rescued animals.
0:53:23 > 0:53:26So, this is your bit of paradise by the looks of it.
0:53:26 > 0:53:28Well, it's my last retreat.
0:53:28 > 0:53:29Where are we going?
0:53:29 > 0:53:31To the monkeys.
0:53:31 > 0:53:32To the monkeys?
0:53:32 > 0:53:34- To see the monkeys, yeah. - Let's go and have a look.
0:53:37 > 0:53:40- Monkeys, then?- Well, I got an e-mail...- Ah...!- It's OK.
0:53:40 > 0:53:41WILLIE LAUGHS
0:53:41 > 0:53:43- Oh, I'm sorry.- No, that's OK.
0:53:43 > 0:53:45I did have a big breakfast, but...
0:53:46 > 0:53:49Willie wanted to introduce me to his longest-serving residents.
0:53:52 > 0:53:54There's Charlie. Charlie!
0:53:54 > 0:53:56Yeah, he likes his treats.
0:53:56 > 0:53:58He's an old-timer, you know?
0:53:58 > 0:54:01Charlie is a black capuchin monkey who was used in laboratory
0:54:01 > 0:54:03experiments for more than a decade.
0:54:05 > 0:54:0915 years is a long time in the clink.
0:54:09 > 0:54:13You mean Charlie was in a lab? He was being experimented on or what?
0:54:13 > 0:54:15Yeah. Here, throw him a crabstick.
0:54:15 > 0:54:18- Wave it to him. - Throw him?- Yeah.
0:54:18 > 0:54:20Go for the big leaves.
0:54:21 > 0:54:23Is that your action of throwing?
0:54:23 > 0:54:25Well, I was waving it about.
0:54:25 > 0:54:27This is the first time in my life, Willie, I've had to show
0:54:27 > 0:54:29a crabstick to a monkey.
0:54:29 > 0:54:32I know that might come as a surprise, but... Incoming!
0:54:34 > 0:54:35Oh, nice.
0:54:36 > 0:54:38Charlie and the crabstick!
0:54:45 > 0:54:48Willie has set up Ireland's first and only monkey sanctuary.
0:54:50 > 0:54:53He takes in primates from around the world,
0:54:53 > 0:54:56most of which have been used in laboratory experiments.
0:55:04 > 0:55:06- Here you go. Here you go. - Give Sam one.
0:55:06 > 0:55:07Here you go, Sam.
0:55:12 > 0:55:16The monkeys live on islands Willie's carved out of acres of bogland.
0:55:17 > 0:55:20- I let them go past so they can relax.- There are monkeys everywhere!
0:55:20 > 0:55:22He's an old-timer, you know?
0:55:22 > 0:55:24Charlie's still on the crabstick.
0:55:24 > 0:55:27He took me for a proper introduction with Charlie.
0:55:27 > 0:55:30- So we're landing on the island?- Yeah. - Excellent.
0:55:30 > 0:55:32This is Charlie's and Sam's island.
0:55:32 > 0:55:36There we go. Look at this. Aren't they wonderful?
0:55:36 > 0:55:40How is that after 15 years in a cage in the laboratory?
0:55:40 > 0:55:42The transformation.
0:55:42 > 0:55:46They screamed for six months when they first came, with madness, you know?
0:55:46 > 0:55:48So they were completely institutionalised?
0:55:48 > 0:55:52And controlled, down to the very grape, the very peanut.
0:55:52 > 0:55:54- You set them free?- Yeah.
0:55:57 > 0:55:59How many monkeys have you got?
0:55:59 > 0:56:03There's 25 at the moment. I keep getting offered more monkeys.
0:56:03 > 0:56:05You'd take more if you could?
0:56:05 > 0:56:08Yeah, absolutely. I was offered 300 the other day, you know?
0:56:08 > 0:56:11What happens to most primates,
0:56:11 > 0:56:14most monkeys who are used
0:56:14 > 0:56:19in laboratories and research centres when their time is up?
0:56:19 > 0:56:22I'd say most of them are euthanized.
0:56:22 > 0:56:24- That's the way it goes. - They're put down.
0:56:24 > 0:56:26Yeah, yeah. Sadly, that's it.
0:56:27 > 0:56:29Tens of thousands of primates are still being
0:56:29 > 0:56:32used in laboratories around the world at any one time.
0:56:32 > 0:56:35It's an enormous moral issue.
0:56:35 > 0:56:37Many are subjected to horrific experiments,
0:56:37 > 0:56:39often for our medical benefit.
0:56:39 > 0:56:43- Hey, you can't have two. - Give him another one.- Yeah?
0:56:43 > 0:56:44Oh, you can. All right.
0:56:45 > 0:56:47No, you can't fit three in there.
0:56:50 > 0:56:52Tell us how you keep the place going.
0:56:52 > 0:56:55My old age pension. That's it.
0:56:56 > 0:56:58- Are you serious?- Yeah.
0:56:58 > 0:57:00That and donations?
0:57:01 > 0:57:05Well, on food, yeah. We don't get any financial support.
0:57:05 > 0:57:06- At all?- No, no.
0:57:08 > 0:57:10- Willie, I hope that you don't think that I'm exaggerating...- No.
0:57:10 > 0:57:14- ..but this is the most extraordinary place I've been to in Ireland. - Fair play to you.
0:57:14 > 0:57:18What you have done here is really inspiringly amazing.
0:57:18 > 0:57:20Well, the monkeys tell me that every day.
0:57:23 > 0:57:25A monkey sanctuary is the last thing
0:57:25 > 0:57:28I expected to find on my travels around Ireland.
0:57:29 > 0:57:32Jesus, I'll need a pint after all this!
0:57:32 > 0:57:34He might be unconventional,
0:57:34 > 0:57:36but the thing about Willie is that he just really cares
0:57:36 > 0:57:39and in that, surely, there's a lesson for us all.
0:57:41 > 0:57:44It's quite a blustery day, but beautiful.
0:57:44 > 0:57:47I'm getting to the end of my journey around Ireland now.
0:57:52 > 0:57:54But look at that view!
0:57:56 > 0:57:58So, just over there is Rosslare.
0:57:58 > 0:58:01That's where I started my journey around Ireland,
0:58:01 > 0:58:03but this is where I finish.
0:58:03 > 0:58:07I have loved Ireland and I have loved the Irish.
0:58:07 > 0:58:10Being up in the north, of course, felt just like being at home,
0:58:10 > 0:58:13but - shh, don't tell them - here in the south
0:58:13 > 0:58:15feels pretty familiar as well.
0:58:15 > 0:58:18History may have divided us,
0:58:18 > 0:58:20but we're really pretty similar.
0:58:20 > 0:58:24The Irish are a wonderful bunch and this is a beautiful island.
0:58:29 > 0:58:32With the Open University, you can further explore Ireland's
0:58:32 > 0:58:34rich history and culture.
0:58:34 > 0:58:36To find out more, go to our website
0:58:36 > 0:58:39and follow the links to the Open University.