HOW prepared is Ireland for Armageddon? A new TG4 programme will examine how the island dealt with past threats and if it can survive a future apocalypse.
On a journey that will bring him from a disused nuclear bunker in Galway to the only 'survivalist store' in the country in Co Cork, presenter Oisín Mistéil is determined to ask the awkward questions about how prepared we are for catastrophe -Can we really prepare for an apocalypse or are we better off dead?
Mistéil meets preppers and nuclear physicists, environmentalists and monastic historians to discover how previous generations dealt with these existential threats and find out if we are ready for those of the future.
Inspired by the Coronavirus pandemic, the programme promises to leave no stone unturned, exploring Viking raids, nuclear winters, viral pandemics and climate catastrophes - one way or another it seems there has always been some kind of looming threat to Irish society.
`Go mBeirimid Beo' will feature archival footage and unearth fascinating tales surrounding the various apocalypses Ireland might have faced.
Mistéil dissects government advice brochures from the 1960s and a 40,000-strong music festival in 1979 that protested against plans for a nuclear plant in Co Wexford.
He also explores the Viking-driven `apocalypse' of the early middle ages, the surprising future of nuclear power, as well as the impending doom of the climate crisis.
"The pandemic brought the end of the world right into view, so it was great to get the chance to explore how it stacks up against other near apocalypses, past present and future - and choosing to laugh in the face of impending doom," he said.
Producer Paddy Hayes describes it as a Louis Theroux-style documentary which will provide "a timely and entertaining journey through recent apocalypse planning while always asking the question: is there something innate in the human psyche that imagines the end could be nigh".
