Kneecap were warned they could die on perilous journey to Arctic Circle for TV show

Sunday World

18-05-2025

The northern Irish hip hop trio – recently at the centre of a storm over their comments on the Middle East and British Tory MPs – went on a gruelling five day trek across the Arctic in February
KNEECAP were warned by former Irish Army Ranger wing leader Ray Goggins that they could possibly die on a perilous journey to the Arctic Circle for his TV show – but still went ahead with the trip.
The northern Irish hip hop trio – recently at the centre of a storm over their comments on the Middle East and British Tory MPs – went on a gruelling five day trek across the Arctic in February.
The group – Mo Chara (Liam Óg Ó hAnnaidh), Móglaí Bap (Naoise Ó Cairealláin) and DJ Próvaí (JJ Ó Dochartaigh) – tested their resilience in a deadly landscape where temperatures can drop below minus 40, and things can go very wrong.
Kneecap joined Ray for his Uncharted documentary for an experience near the North Pole that will test them and push them to their limits.
Ray leads the Irish language speaking trio skiing through the Arctic tundra over five days towards the symbolic marker of Scandinavian unity and cross border cooperation, the tri-border, where the Finnish, Norwegian and Swedish borders all meet.
Kneecap in the Arctic Circle
News in 90 Seconds - May 18th
"This is one of the most extreme environments I've been in,' Ray tells them.
'In Ireland, minus five is a red alert, it's down to minus 30, minus 35 here. It's a different gravy if something goes wrong, you could be dead. No matter how fit you are, how tough you are, you are on the edge all of the time.'
He again warns the lads there's a real threat to life and they may not even come back from their trip.
"The chance of picking up a serious injury, and death are pretty high here,' he confirms.
Ray Goggins. Photo by Steve Humphreys
'The temp at the moment isn't too bad, it's going to drop to below minus 20 tomorrow. If you get your shit wrong, you are going to suffer.
"If you get your shit badly wrong, you are going to be in trouble - you could be looking at losing limbs...when I ask you to do something, when I tell you to do something, there's a reason behind it...the whole thing isn't just about you surviving, I want you to excel in this environment."
But the lads are up for the task despite the obvious risks.
'I'm very excited, very excited to do this. Our schedule has been so busy the last year you know, this is a welcome change. Snow, mountains, pure sparse trees, pure emptiness, pure nature. It's something I have never experienced before,' beams JJ.
"This is something that not many people get to do so we are going to grab it with both hands and go for it."
Liam Óg is quite jovial about what lies ahead of him.
"We're not allowed any drink in the igloos apparently, I don't know whose idea that was. Was that Ray Goggins? I'll pull him up on it..," he giggles.
Naoise adds: "Going from place to place gigging, hangovers etc can be quite the stress so either this journey will be quite a relief, or a pain in the arse, but we will soon find out."
During their trek the windchill dropped at one stage to a dodgy minus 30, with Ray conceding 'we are under a bit of pressure now lads, it can get very serious..."
Belfast lad Liam Óg is reflective on how to deal with their situation.
'In situations like this where it's a bit more extreme, where the landscape is against you, that you have to rely on each other... That you end up just becoming tighter very quickly," he reflects.
Derryman JJ sees links between their struggle in the Arctic circle and their own background in the North.
"Growing up, a lot of our families and the people we looked up to would have been associated with the struggle against the Brits,' he points out. 'I think between the communities in the North, people get on well. The young ones can see the irony of it, have the craic, still support Celtic and Rangers, you know what I mean."
Liam Óg, who hails from Belfast, observes: "As far as a United Ireland is concerned, obviously we support a United Ireland...we are very vocal about that. The British Government has never really served the Irish people... have never done well by the Irish people. We have had an actual 100 years of it up North.
' I think it has come to the point now where the British government don't even serve the Unionists in the that live in the North.
'I think it's time for an alternative basically and obviously the biggest obstacle to that is making a United Ireland appealing to the unionists. A United Ireland should be a place where all cultures are celebrated.
'There's a lot of right-wing connotations to it now...fascist ideas and stuff where it's like "Ireland's full", we are still a million people down from the famine. Ireland's not full, you're full of shit."
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Naoise reiterates what motivates them.
"People always kind of say about up North and our pride of being Irish is what pushes us to thrive, to learn the language or whatever. It's not always about resistance, it's just about when you have a language that's your own language and it creates a bond between people,' he stresses.
Ray, who said he met the lads with an open book and blank page, is pleased with his time hanging out with them.
"I love the conversation with the three guys, yeah ...they come from a certain background, but they are trying to move on. Their openness and awareness of everything else going on around them is incredible for young men. I was absolutely blown away by that,' he exclaims.
* Uncharted with Ray Goggins - RTÉ One/RTÉ Player Wednesday 9.35pm