Latest news with #RayGoggins
Irish Times
11-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Irish Times
Uncharted with Ray Goggins: Once Joe Canning thaws this tropical thrill ride is a fine full stop to a rewarding series
It's funny how even famous people will drop their guard when suspended from a waterfall or hovering over a toilet in subzero temperatures. Such has been the lesson of celebrity survival series Uncharted With Ray Goggins (RTÉ One, 9.35pm), which across the past four weeks has brought us such unlikely spectacles as Leo Vardakar undergoing an existential crisis while dangling from a cliff in South Africa and one-third of Kneecap questioning the existence of God during a trek to a subzero loo in the Arctic Circle. The show's enjoyable first season now comes to an end with former Army ranger and lifestyle guru Goggins – think Bear Grylls trying slightly too hard to be Roy Keane – leading All-Ireland winning Galway player Joe Canning and Olympic athlete Thomas Barr - 'a hurler and a hurdler' – into the Colombian jungle for a spot of terrifying white-water rafting. But surely the biggest challenge is the one facing Goggins, who must go where many celebrity survivalists will have feared to tread by making a duo of top sportspeople appear interesting. It's a tough ask. While previous participants, such as former taoiseach Varadkar and Kneecap, know how to sell themselves, athletes are cut from a different cloth. They tend to be guarded on camera and generally talk in clichés. At the end of the day and with all credit to the lads, Goggins is going to have to find a way to make them open up. Otherwise, it would be platitudes till tea-time and beyond. The good news is that Canning and Barr are unusually personable by sports star standards. Dropping their guard from the outset, the pair are chatty and keen to test themselves. 'The fear of the unknown, that's my biggest fear,' says Canning as they drive into the jungle – though he gets a handle on his anxiety long enough to tease Barr. 'This is your terrain, coming from Waterford,' he laughs. READ MORE [ Uncharted with Ray Goggins review: Kneecap show their soulful side as they trudge through the Arctic snow Opens in new window ] Uncharted with Ray Goggins: Thomas Barr and Joe Canning There is candour to go with the jokes. Canning says he is slow to warm to strangers – echoing Leo Varadkar's reticence in week one. 'I'm an introvert. I don't like too big a crowd or being around people I don't know. If I don't trust people and think they're genuine, I won't open up to them,' he says. Goggins respects his honesty and responds with some home truths of his own, discussing his time spent away from home and the toll it takes on family life. 'I had kids when I was in Afghanistan,' he says, referring to a deployment with a private security company. 'I would be gone eight months of the year. My older son he's 17. I've missed a lot of his life. It's a big price to pay.' [ Uncharted with Ray Goggins review: Leo Varadkar has to get halfway up a mountain with Lyra before he lets his guard down Opens in new window ] The jungle is a daunting obstacle course. There is a terrifying trip down white-water rapids while the entire place is heaving with bugs, whose unblinking eyes shine in the dark (this is what experts refer to as nightmare fuel). As Cork's answer to Bear Grylls, Goggins is full of bite – though the show could do without the unintentional hilarity at the start when he pretends to be a shouty Sergeant Major and tells the celebs to refer to him as 'Ray' (what else would they call him?). There is also far too much swearing: an f-bomb is an f-bomb even in the tropics. But Goggins, Canning and Barr make for an engaging trio as they warm up to one another. Once the ice melts, this tropical thrill ride is a fine full stop to a rewarding series.
The Irish Sun
27-05-2025
- Entertainment
- The Irish Sun
‘That's when panic set in' – Watch camogie ace & gold medallist's scary cliff moment on Death Road in RTE's Uncharted
ASHLING Thompson and Ellen Keane are this week's "guests" on RTE's Uncharted With Ray Goggins. The 4 Ray Goggins is an Irish special forces veteran Credit: RTE Press Office Issue 4 The Paralympic legend and Cork camogie star joined him on this adventure Credit: RTE Press Office Issue 4 Keane retired from the pool after last summer's Paralympic Games in Paris 4 Thompson is still an integral player for the defending All-Ireland champions Last week saw Irish language hip-hop duo Kneecap embark on an Arctic expedition while the series' opening episode showed This Wednesday it is the turn of a pair of sporting stars and while they no doubt would've possessed the physical capacity for their epic quest there were moment where their resolve was tested. RTE set them out on a path down Bolivia's notorious Death Road with one moment in particular leaving the Cork star literally frightened for her life. As they drove down what's well-known to be the most dangerous road on the planet, they came across an abandoned van. Read More On GAA With the only other option being to sit tight for hours until help arrived to repair it, Goggins instead convinced them to squeeze past - despite it being a massive drop if they did slide off the cliff face. Thompson can be heard reflecting on that scary instance as she acts as the show's narrator back in the here and now. The six-time All-Ireland winner underlined: "We only had the width of the jeep to get by. So that's when the panic set in." Not only did they have to traverse the arduous road portion but they also ended up having to hike through almost 100km of dense cloud forest and cross raging rivers. Most read in GAA Hurling Upon meeting them in the South American country, Ray warned: "We are going to negotiate some of the worst and most dangerous terrain on the planet. "It's going to be hardcore, you are going to be at altitude so it's not going to be for the faint-hearted. 'Like something out of the French Revolution' - RTE GAA pundit Donal Og Cusack slams Dublin star's reckless swipe "It will be hellish at times." Ellen recalled how she had to be adaptable in order to follow Goggins' lead given her disability. Using the example of how she approached a makeshift wire bridge over a powerful river, she explained: "I had to figure out how to get across a little differently to everyone else. "Ray was not offering help too soon which was really reassuring to me because it meant that he believed I could do it. "When you are a person with a disability, everyone always expects you not to be able to do something or to always need help, and I don't like that narrative. "I can do anything that Ashling does, I just have to do it a little differently. "I think that's a really important lesson for people to learn that it doesn't matter how something is done, as long as it is done at the end of the day, that's the most important thing." You can watch the episode in full on RTE One at 9:35pm on Wednesday May 28.
Irish Times
21-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Irish Times
Uncharted with Ray Goggins review: Kneecap show their soulful side as they trudge through the Arctic snow
Kneecap have undeniably been in hot water in the past several weeks. But before the firestorm, they spent several days in the Arctic Circle in the company of former Army ranger and survival expert Ray Goggins and their exploits are now documented in part two of Uncharted With Ray Goggins ( RTÉ One, Wednesday). Those tuning in expecting further fireworks will be disappointed. The trio of Liam Óg Ó hAnnaidh, Naoise Ó Cairealláin and JJ Ó Dochartaigh make for largely thoughtful company, though there are occasionally flashes of cheeky chap-dom. They get on well with Goggins – a literal sgt major type and stickler for military discipline, as they wend their way across Finland to the tri-border marker where Finland, Norway and Sweden intersect. But if the episode has a deeper message, it is perhaps to touch on the distance that can still exist between people from the two sides of the island. They don't seem impressed that Goggins is a decorated ranger. 'I hear he was in the Irish Army . . . they basically do f**k all,' quips one – a jarring line considering the many sacrifices made by the Irish Army cross the decades. On the other hand, they speak fluent Irish while Goggins does not, and their passion for the country's ancient oral traditions is evoked wonderfully when they meet an indigenous Finish Sámi singer and perform the sean-nós, Amhrán Na Scadán. READ MORE Kneecap's Naoise Ó Cairealláin in the Arctic. Photograph: RTÉ [ Uncharted with Ray Goggins review: Leo Varadkar has to get halfway up a mountain with Lyra before he lets his guard down Opens in new window ] The actual adventure elements of the instalment are more disposable – there's lots of trudging through the snow and digging sheltering holes as the sun goes down. There's also a great deal of swearing, and the show could have been done without Goggins, the responsible adult in the scenario, dropping an f-bomb – who is he trying to impress? Carrying on from where he left off last week during his exploits with Leo Varadkar and Lyra , he gets straight to the point when Kneecap arrive on snowmobiles. 'Welcome to the Arctic, fellas . . . If you get your s**t wrong you're going to suffer. If you get your s**t badly wrong, you're in trouble.' Off they set on a three-day trek where indignities include trying to shuffle up a hill in sub-zero temperatures and using an outdoor toilet in the middle of a snowstorm. 'You don't want your arse to stick to the toilet seat. It was an experience,' protests JJ. Kneecap's antics on stage have created the impression that they're born rabble-rousers. However, anyone who has seen their quasi-autobiographical movie or actually attended one of their gigs can tell you that they have a thoughtful and soulful side too, and this comes through as they talk in Irish and speak about how, in their estimation, British rule in the North has been bad for both communities. But then they start banging on about wanting to retain the NHS – suggesting they have bought into the exceptionalist British myth that their public healthcare system is the best in the world. Haters will be underwhelmed by Kneecap's entry into survival-based fly-on-the-wall television. They come across as largely reflective, occasionally a bit gobby and annoying. But if this frosty serving of reality TV ultimately achieves anything, is it to show that a band widely caricatured as addicted to controversy have no objection to chilling out in the right circumstances.
Sunday World
18-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Sunday World
Kneecap were warned they could die on perilous journey to Arctic Circle for TV show
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 I ask you to do something, when I tell you to do something, there's a reason behind 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 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 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." . 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
Irish Times
14-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Irish Times
Uncharted with Ray Goggins review: Leo Varadkar has to get halfway up a mountain with Lyra before he lets his guard down
One of the benefits of Ireland being such a small country is that our reality television throws up the weirdest combinations of celebrities. A case in point is the new survival challenge series, Uncharted with Ray Goggins ( RTÉ One , Wednesday), which kicks off with former taoiseach Leo Varadkar climbing a mountain in South Africa with Cork pop star Lyra . What next? Rappers Kneecap chugging around the Arctic for a week? Yes, that's in part two (those presumably very cosy balaclavas will come in handy). The only really mysterious ingredient is Goggins, of whom I'd never previously heard. He seems to be a sort of Irish Bear Grylls – minus the hippy-dippy wackiness and the obsession with staying hydrated by drinking your own wee. He is a harsh taskmaster, and initially, his unsmiley routine is annoying. 'He started off very stern, didn't seem very friendly,' says Varadkar, who might have been more comfortable with Grylls leaping out of a thicket to explain the best way to cook nettles. I know I would. Varadkar and Lyra make for a curious couple as their adventure begins with them gingerly driving a jeep across South Africa towards the Drakensberg Escarpment – which sounds like the scene of a battle in Lord of the Rings but is, in fact, a towering peak that leads to the world's highest waterfalls. It isn't just that they're from entirely different worlds – Leo, a Kylie Minogue fan, and Lyra, an artist whose music is somewhere between Kate Bush , Enya and Florence and the Machine . They also have wildly contrasting personalities. READ MORE Varadkar comes across as an introvert and is slow to open up to his companions. Lyra is the opposite – there is a sense of a larger-than-life individual who speaks their mind without a filter. She has also decided to climb a mountain in acrylic nails – the bravest thing anyone has done in the Irish music industry since U2 tried to go techno. Goggins chimes in with some on-the-hoof psychological assessments. 'Leo isn't ready for this,' he remarks. 'He says what can go wrong first rather than what can go right. That can be a chore if you're up a mountain in Africa.' Varadkar does eventually let his guard down. 'My friends say I'm slow to warm up to people,' he says. 'It's much easier on this trip.' Halfway up the mountain, the three begin to bond (not having much else to do). Varadkar recalls the verbal abuse he would receive as taoiseach. 'A woman came up to me in a bar and told me her sister had taken her life because of me, because of the housing crisis . She got quite aggressive ... The longer and longer I was doing it [being in politics] the less I was enjoying the upside.' Lyra, for her part, talks about her struggles with the music industry and its bizarre beauty standards. 'I didn't get to the size they wanted me to be,' she says, revealing she has experienced bulimia. Varadkar chimes in with encouragement. 'I can't believe the industry didn't believe you look like a pop star,' he says. 'You climbed a mountain in those nails.' [ 'I could have done a little bit more': Leo Varadkar says new adventure show made him reconsider leadership style Opens in new window ] Uncharted never satisfactorily explains who Goggins is or why he's qualified to send Leo and Lyra up an escarpment in South Africa beyond saying he's a 'former special forces soldier'. But what kind of soldier? Whose special forces? An internet search reveals he spent 17 years in the elite Army Rangers and now writes self-help books – but the series could have gone further filling in those blanks. The episode ends with Varadkar and Lyra back at sea level, the better for their experience. Next week, it's Kneecap in the Arctic. Considering the heat they've been feeling recently, a trip somewhere cold and away from social media will no doubt be appreciated.
