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00:01The world is changing faster than Cinderella when the clock strikes midnight.
00:06And we're struggling to keep up.
00:08From climate change to the global political climate,
00:11things are heating up and the consequences can be life-changing.
00:16Oh my God, now look at that.
00:17It's like somebody dropped a nuclear bomb on the whole neighborhood.
00:20Pushing people to the very edges of our society.
00:23Everybody's got their own story.
00:25I like to think I'm just foul on the sun.
00:27In this series, I'll be reaching out to people who are living on the edge.
00:30Some through choice, some through lack of choice,
00:33and others because that is where they feel most at home.
00:36Stand in your power, be who you are and love who you are.
00:39In a world where life as we know it is changing so fast that it doesn't always make sense.
00:49And on this adventure, I'll be joined by some of Ireland's most intrepid personalities,
00:53who, like me, are willing to get a taste of life on the edge.
00:57You got somebody that talks too much?
00:59Yeah, we do, actually.
01:01If someone hates themselves, bring it on.
01:04I mean, I probably shouldn't say this as a traveler,
01:08but the van life is not for me.
01:10In order for me to give up my modern comforts,
01:12it really would want to be the end of the world.
01:15How many of you are prepared for the end of the world?
01:19That man is my guess.
01:22In recent times, EU governments have been telling us all
01:26that we need to pack a bag that will last us for three days.
01:30And to prepare for the very worst.
01:34It kind of sounds like you're about to take a city break with a very cheap airline.
01:48Last season, myself and comedian Neil Delamere were shooting holes in tin cans.
01:55Now, the way that episode was edited made it look like he was a better shot.
02:00And I was not one bit happy about it.
02:03So this is a grudge match.
02:05There he is now.
02:06What have you got me into this then?
02:08I wasn't happy with the results of our first competition.
02:11Right.
02:12Are you ready for round two?
02:13Okay.
02:14Jump in.
02:18We've come to Bulgaria in the east of Europe for some military training.
02:22Since the invasion of Ukraine, interest in citizen soldier courses
02:27appears to be growing as people prepare for what some see
02:31as an increased threat of foreign invasion.
02:34Good afternoon.
02:35Simon.
02:36Nice to meet you.
02:37Ex-British soldier Simon Feek has been in Bulgaria for 20 years
02:42and for the last eight years he has been training citizen soldiers.
02:47Basically, if you're worried about a terrorist attack or a foreign invasion,
02:51you train with Simon.
02:53Turns out business is booming.
02:59What we're going to start you working off on with us today is actually the AK-47.
03:03This is the world's most prolific battle rifle.
03:05I prefer the AK-76 for sure look.
03:08In the United States you can buy a fairly cheap AK for around about $200, $250.
03:12What? That's like a pair of runners.
03:14Just to be clear, that's an AK-47.
03:19One of the deadliest weapons in history, having been used by numerous armies,
03:24terrorists, revolutionaries and criminals since it was first manufactured in 1949.
03:30A part of my brain absolutely loves the look of a gun.
03:34The other part of me is like, this is a very dangerous thing.
03:37It's very surreal.
03:38See, I'm looking at that and I can't really make the connect between that thing and what it does.
03:43What I want to do is I want you to imagine we're going to go to the local shopping centre.
03:48As we walk into the food court, we hear pop, pop, pop off in the distance.
03:52As we look around the food court, we know there are a number of people lying down.
03:55OK, some of those people are lying in a pool of their own juice.
03:58You are now in an active terrorist attack.
04:01By pool of their own juice, Simon means blood.
04:05This is a slightly terrifying morning.
04:08They used to tell us to run, hide and tell in these kind of attacks.
04:12Now they tell us to run, hide and prepare to fight back.
04:15And that's what we're going to do for the rest of the day.
04:17The magazine goes in tow first, rocks out, heels second in the opposite direction.
04:21What tells you this weapon is dangerous?
04:22Because you've just put a magazine in tow.
04:24Yeah, OK, so it's loaded.
04:26That's the official term on the weapon, OK?
04:29That weapon is loaded.
04:32That weapon is now loaded and made ready to fire, OK?
04:35Actually, this makes me a little bit nervous now, even.
04:38Just a couple of feet away there.
04:41Why not?
04:42I've only just met the guy.
04:44We don't know what bridges he holds.
04:46It's just part of the lesson to explain to you.
04:48No, but that's quite a normal human reaction.
04:51Oh, yeah?
04:52If I didn't feel nervous, I'd seen...
04:54I'd be worried.
04:55If you didn't feel nervous, I'd be nervous.
04:56You'd be a psychopath if you didn't feel nervous.
04:58Yeah.
04:59OK, how do you feel, gentlemen?
05:00Nervous, but excited.
05:01Good.
05:02OK, choose the target...
05:04Did we mention that we were nervous?
05:06In your own time, carry on.
05:08This is a long way from shooting a can in Ohio.
05:18Lovely.
05:19Come on down.
05:20Let's go see what we hit.
05:21OK.
05:22I'll admit I really wanted to get off to a good start.
05:24It is a grudge match, after all.
05:27That's great.
05:28That's exactly what we're looking for.
05:29You fired onto the chest of a target.
05:31That's what we're looking for.
05:32He's not shooting Jesus.
05:33A lot of making the rules.
05:34It stands like that.
05:35Right, so on his target, one, two, three, four, five.
05:38Yeah.
05:39Big target, right?
05:40But you weren't aiming.
05:41Look, he's trying to pretend that he was aiming for the small target.
05:44One, two, three, four, five.
05:46He's aiming at a big dude.
05:47I'm aiming at a little fella.
05:49Because he wasn't aiming there.
05:51Yeah, OK.
05:52Five and five.
05:53You know where you are going.
05:54Oh, OK.
05:55I see we're changing the rules now.
05:56Big Johnny Orange thinks he's ahead in this.
06:01I was aiming at another target.
06:04I was aiming at the big target.
06:06And he doesn't know that.
06:09As we reloaded the magazines, the deadly power of these weapons really started to sink in.
06:17It might seem like fun, but it is nerve-wracking.
06:19You're holding something in your hands that could kill you.
06:22The fear and the anxiety.
06:24Take control of the weapons.
06:26Load.
06:27Carry on.
06:28All shooters.
06:29Unload.
06:30Choke clear.
06:31Removed from magazine.
06:32Let's go and see what the difference is now in the data.
06:33Oh, he's on.
06:34Oh, my God.
06:35He's gone.
06:36Look.
06:37That's the quickest I've ever seen him move.
06:38Is that mine, is it?
06:39Which one year?
06:40No way.
06:41Oh, that's good shooting.
06:42Yeah.
06:43I mean, I've got to hand that to you.
06:44You didn't hand that to me.
06:45I took it off you.
06:46You didn't hand that to me.
06:47I took it off you.
06:48I was doing mainly warning shots.
06:49All right, but you scared him.
06:50I was, yeah, I was letting him know who was boss, but nothing lethal.
06:53Nothing better to calm the nerves than getting the upper hand in a close competition.
06:58You've been practicing.
06:59I don't care what you said.
07:11If you lived here, would you have a gun?
07:15Oh, that's a tricky question.
07:16If you lived in the US, would you have a gun?
07:18I would live in the US because of the guns.
07:23Simon's next student of citizen soldiering is already in town.
07:29Charlotte is a French Pilates instructor,
07:32an indication of just how wide Simon's client base seems to be.
07:37How does a Pilates instructor wake up one morning and say,
07:42I need to go and shoot an AK-47?
07:45I don't know, it's like, it's a workout.
07:48It's about strength and control.
07:50Why shooting?
07:52It's something, it's some skills I've always wanted to learn,
07:54but I think it could be useful, especially now,
07:57because there are a lot of conflict happening in Europe,
08:00and in the world, and it's coming to Europe,
08:02so I don't think I will have to use it one day,
08:05but it's always something good to know.
08:08Is that something that you'll be thinking about a lot,
08:10about an impending war?
08:12Not really, because I don't want to be depressed,
08:15so I just, but I know it's real.
08:19The firing range is busy, and you know what?
08:22You weirdly get used to the incessant sound of gunfire.
08:26This would be unimaginable in Ireland.
08:29But I wonder, do locals here really feel the urgent need
08:34to learn how to shoot?
08:35Well, you came here to learn how to shoot.
08:37Yeah. I like to be prepared.
08:40And if war starts to approach,
08:43do you think that you'll be quick to buy a gun?
08:46Oh, yeah.
08:47And do you think you'll be capable of using it?
08:49Well, this is nothing.
08:51You'll go down fighting?
08:53Yeah.
08:54Yeah.
08:55What do you reckon we'll be up to today?
08:57I mean, we've got...
08:58Probably the guns are out of the way, so...
09:00I don't know if you've seen Simon's eyes,
09:02but that man has more guns.
09:04What are we gonna do today?
09:05We're gonna do pistols.
09:06Told ya.
09:07I'm in Bulgaria with Neil Delamere,
09:18where we are training to be citizen soldiers,
09:21ready to fight if Ireland is ever invaded.
09:25Simon, our ex-British army instructor,
09:28is serious and impressive.
09:30We are neither.
09:32That thing there takes out the magazine.
09:36The magazine release catch.
09:37Yeah, and this is the thing that locks everything up.
09:39The slide release catch.
09:40The slide release catch.
09:41Or you could call it the lockity-clickity-click.
09:42Lockity-clickity-click.
09:43For you today, we can call it that.
09:44Okay.
09:45That was the original title of Riverdance.
09:47Oh.
09:48The real question is,
09:49is Neil the Michael Flatley of pistol shooting?
09:52I had the edge with the AK-47,
09:54but I'm not feeling as confident today.
09:56Neil, if you want to go on this...
09:58I think you're gonna do well on this one.
10:00I think you'll do well.
10:01Go!
10:02Ten rounds.
10:03That's really, really good.
10:07Can you do it again?
10:08Five and five in your own time.
10:16Well done.
10:17Unload and show clear.
10:18We are now gonna start shooting really quickly.
10:21What I want you to do is just go Zen Light.
10:24I just want you to start thinking about what makes you happy in life.
10:27Okay.
10:28I should point out that holding an automatic weapon is not the thing that makes me happy in life.
10:32Two, three, four.
10:33Just so we're clear on that one.
10:38Four.
10:39You got a bit carried away.
10:40You just did seven.
10:41But the results got better as we went.
10:43Neil's gonna have a go next.
10:49Slow and steady wins the race.
10:51Nice.
10:52Accuracy was great.
10:53I want you to speed it up by 50% again.
10:57Target is down.
10:59Neil definitely got a bit of an adrenaline rush.
11:02I think it happened in around the time he started shooting well.
11:08That was great, wasn't it?
11:09It was brilliant.
11:10Yeah.
11:11Although technically my groupings are tighter.
11:12Yeah, but you missed.
11:13One.
11:14Sorry.
11:15No, you didn't.
11:16No, it didn't.
11:17That's a lower target.
11:18That's actually eye level.
11:19Do you know the phrase, if you're explaining, you're losing?
11:20I'm only explaining why I'm winning.
11:21Keep barking, big dog.
11:22Keep barking.
11:23Martin is very competitive.
11:25But so am I.
11:26It's good old crack as well.
11:27Now we're competing.
11:32Twice as fast again going mad.
11:35We've been firing at dark circles all morning.
11:37Then, as things got more intense.
11:41The targets got more realistic.
11:45They're shaped like a human.
11:47It's not just like a piece of paper anymore.
11:49So...
11:51Yeah, I don't know how I feel about that, actually.
11:54One.
11:56That was a cracker.
11:57Look at what you did.
11:58This is good crack, but in my brain, I have not associated what we're doing here today with injuring someone.
12:04And that's why I can kind of enjoy it on firing at a target.
12:07Shooter, are you ready?
12:08Yes.
12:09One, two.
12:12Two, one.
12:14How many rounds do you think you got on target?
12:16Oh, a lot.
12:17I think about six.
12:18You missed every single round.
12:19Okay.
12:20Say that again.
12:21He missed everything.
12:22Watch this.
12:23Look, watch.
12:24This is what you created.
12:25Look.
12:27Not having it.
12:28Not having it.
12:29No.
12:30Not having it.
12:31You definitely lost.
12:32Me.
12:33I lost.
12:34Yeah.
12:35No, is that your final assessment on it?
12:36His accuracy is better.
12:38Why is he getting more magazines, by the way?
12:39What's the story there?
12:45This is how you know he's under pressure.
12:46He's like Trump just starts making things up.
12:48I'm equal to him now before I shoot one more round.
12:51Yeah.
12:52Okay.
12:53Where are you getting the mathematics from?
12:54Hang on a second.
12:55No.
12:56You're just saying, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
12:57No.
12:58I'm a witness to the upset unfold.
13:01I'm not causing it.
13:02Do you see how much easier it is when you're aiming for this big, huge thing?
13:05Not all the playoffs.
13:06You see that?
13:07I was aiming for his eyeball.
13:08Oh, well, like...
13:09Neil, come here.
13:10Listen.
13:11This was you.
13:12Here he was, taking his last shot.
13:13Look.
13:14You're still losing.
13:16Last one.
13:17Only if you discount numbers.
13:19I'm not so much happy that I won as much that Martin lost.
13:25You're a born liar.
13:27Oh, you're a liar, Eogh.
13:29Yeah.
13:32Downtown Sofia is a bustling European capital.
13:36It's hard to imagine that anyone here is scared of an impending invasion,
13:40much less ready to take up arms and fight as citizen soldiers.
13:45It certainly doesn't feel like people are preparing for any kind of invasion.
13:51And I do find myself looking at the way people's jackets are hanging,
13:56going, I want to see carrying a gun.
13:57Would you know?
13:58Then I see someone like that walking past carrying eclairs.
14:00But are they eclairs, though?
14:02Are they?
14:03If he grabs one and bites it and then throws it.
14:06Say there is a guerrilla warfare or something like that,
14:08would you feel that you're trained,
14:10or would you think let the arms and stuff go to somebody else?
14:13Am I adequately trained to defend myself?
14:16Well, now I know how to shoot a gun.
14:18I don't think I'm adequately equipped for taking the life of another person.
14:23I mean, I do carry throwing stars now.
14:26Just brought to me yesterday.
14:28Practiced all night with them.
14:29Can't hit anything yet, but they look dead.
14:33It's our last day with Simon,
14:35and I am relieved that he also includes first aid on his courses.
14:39We're going to assume Martin is our casualty, okay?
14:42He's received a gunshot wound from Neil.
14:45Yeah, accidentally.
14:46You must have been standing very close.
14:47I had hoped he might ease us into this,
14:49but nope.
14:50Bang.
14:51Straight in with a gunshot wound.
14:53It's just hit the artery, okay?
14:55And do you know how much time you've got left to live?
14:58In an archery?
14:59Yes.
15:00About two minutes.
15:01Two to three.
15:02First thing we're going to do,
15:03is we're going to apply pressure to the wound.
15:05And if he's copus mentis, we can ask him to help out.
15:08Just keep that there, mate.
15:10What's your name?
15:12What's your mother's maiden name?
15:14What is your PPS number?
15:19And your...
15:20Okay, so if I wrap this around like this,
15:22and then tie it in here.
15:23Yep.
15:24So what we're going to do,
15:25is we're going to apply this.
15:26Now where are we going to apply it?
15:27Above the wound, presumably.
15:28Above the wound?
15:29How far above the wound?
15:30Don't go up too high now.
15:31No.
15:32You're going to go two fingers above the wound.
15:34Exactly.
15:35All I'm saying is you be careful with those two fingers, buddy.
15:37So that is basically how we start massive bleeding on a limb.
15:41This is stuff that essentially we probably should be learning in school.
15:44When I was in the FCA or the RDF,
15:47there was also the Order of Malta in the same town.
15:49And there wasn't a hope at hell that a young fellow was going to go for the Order of Malta.
15:53Not my estate.
15:54They were all drawn towards the artillery or the guns and things like that.
15:58We gravitate towards the gun and we forget about the people who was bandaging up.
16:02Those fellows are going to get shot.
16:07Simon had one more training session for us
16:09and put us into body armour before we headed out to the range.
16:13I feel like I should have been worried.
16:15Then I saw the gun.
16:17And I was worried.
16:19The size of the gun.
16:21Yeah.
16:22Then I brought out this thing that I think I've seen used in a film killing a T-Rex.
16:28This is not the kind of shotgun that you normally have farmers use in an island.
16:31I just felt very uncomfortable being around it, actually.
16:34It just brought the level of devastation that can be caused to the next level.
16:38This particular weapon is designed for vehicle intervention.
16:41Take an engine, that type of thing.
16:43Exactly.
16:44So let's just put one, two...
16:48No sport in that.
16:49You're not shooting targets with that.
16:51That's to kill something.
16:53And I just found myself looking and thinking, nah, I have enough now.
16:57This is a solid...
16:59It's like a metal.
17:00You can see that in there.
17:01That will interfere with both of your body armours.
17:03I can promise you that.
17:04What would that do to a person?
17:06You'd be obliterated.
17:08And what's the recoil on this like?
17:11It's a little bit more of a Nikolashnikov.
17:14Very vague there now, I have to say.
17:16And his voice pitched right up, didn't it?
17:18Yeah, yeah, yeah.
17:19I'm operating at that pitch level at the moment inside.
17:23For me, it was just too much destruction in my hands.
17:26This one makes me nervous.
17:27Does it?
17:28Yeah.
17:29Well, firing it or just being around it or...?
17:31I think both.
17:32I'm just going to engage it.
17:39Can you see the sight?
17:40Yeah.
17:41Okay.
17:43Carry on.
17:44Well done.
17:45Last three for Martin.
17:46I think I'm going to give this one a miss.
17:47Okay.
17:48Actually.
17:49If that's all right.
17:50Fine.
17:51I did enjoy the first couple of days shooting.
17:53And then, as it started to kind of sit in my mind,
17:56and I was thinking more about what I was doing,
17:59I just don't know, I just...
18:01I'm still...
18:02I'm still...
18:03I'm still...
18:04I'm still...
18:05I'm still...
18:06I'm still...
18:07I'm still...
18:08I'm still...
18:09I'm still...
18:10I'm still...
18:11I'm still...
18:12I'm still...
18:13I'm still...
18:14I'm still...
18:15I'm still...
18:16I'm still...
18:17I'm still...
18:18I'm still...
18:19I'm still kind of...
18:20I'm still kind of...
18:21I'm still kind of...
18:22in some form of conflict with myself.
18:23Ready to fire.
18:24Okay.
18:25That was high.
18:26Come down a bit.
18:27There we go.
18:28That was it.
18:29You got him dead center.
18:30Okay.
18:31We're slightly more capable than we were...
18:32a few days ago.
18:33But do I think that anybody needs to ever have an automatic weapon...
18:37that isn't in the army?
18:39No.
18:40There's no denying...
18:41The adrenaline.
18:42The adrenaline.
18:43But it would really want to be the end of the world...
18:45Before I pick up a gun.
18:46Hmm.
18:47I found that I really just don't like them.
18:48I think they're too destructive.
18:49Hmm.
18:50But we live at home.
18:51If you lived here or further east...
18:53You'd be looking at them.
18:54I think I've done my fair share of shooting.
18:56I don't think I'm going to be trying it again.
18:58People in Ireland definitely don't worry as much about the threat of invasion.
19:04And now that Neil and I are trained citizen soldiers...
19:07There is even less reason to be afraid.
19:09People in Ireland definitely don't worry as much about the threat of invasion, and now
19:18that Neil and I are trained citizen soldiers, there is even less reason to be afraid.
19:23But in the 60s, the whole planet was terrified of a nuclear war, and here in costume barracks
19:30in Athlone, Irish government plans for World War 3 can still be seen today.
19:35Retired army officer Lieutenant Colonel John Durnan remembers when the government bunker
19:41was still kitted out for use by about 80 of the top politicians and officials in the
19:46country at the time.
19:49Where were they going to build the bunker?
19:50Well they had this building which was very new at the time and there was a big basement
19:55in it and they said that's where we'll put, not the whole government, but we'll put the
19:59war cabinet.
20:00What they wanted was something to protect from fallout, nuclear fallout of bombs that might
20:05land somewhere else, maybe in Liverpool or Sellafield or Northern Ireland even, or even
20:09in Dublin.
20:10Well after you, full disclosure, I am claustrophobic, so.
20:14Okay, shriek if you have a problem and we'll get you out, okay?
20:17The man who was in the army, just shriek if you have a problem.
20:21A lot of the old bunker is now used for soldiers' lockers, but when John was here as an officer,
20:27the bunker was still fitted out as it was for much of the Cold War.
20:32Time to see where our government planned to hide from all that nuclear fallout.
20:36Right, what I'm showing you now is what was the operational part of this famous bunker.
20:43It didn't even plaster the walls.
20:46This would have been the communication centre, you would have had signallers and you also
20:51would have had perhaps civilian people from Radio Air in here who were in a position to
20:56broadcast out the messages from the Taoiseach, they were not intended to spend the rest of
21:01their lives here.
21:02How long?
21:03They were talking about 28 days, so they had rations for 28 days, they had water, they
21:08had what we call noddy suits, which are NBC, nuclear bacteriological and chemical protection
21:14suits that they could wear if they had to go outside.
21:18So anyway, they had that kind of equipment.
21:20The next room was a kitchen.
21:22Here you had the so-called orderly room.
21:25So in here you would have had civil servants and secretaries.
21:28Now this is just a corridor and then there was more storage down there.
21:33I hope that's storage, because that looks like the start of a horror film.
21:36Yeah, yeah.
21:37Here we go to the war cabinet room and I'll show you, it's quite long, but I'm telling you
21:42it's very low.
21:43I hope your claustrophobia is okay.
21:45And watch your head.
21:46I'll be grand, don't worry.
21:48There's a bicycle!
21:50When this was set up, there was a long table and about 20 chairs, maybe even more chairs,
21:55around it.
21:56So what happened to all the furniture?
21:59Over the years, it just was taken away.
22:02As I say, I don't know, because the army didn't have control of this.
22:06Were you allowed in here?
22:07Like if- if- if the- if the- if the- shall we say if the bomb hit, if the bomb stuck-
22:12Yeah, yeah, yeah.
22:13You're not allowed in here, are you?
22:14No.
22:15And that's why you had a guy.
22:16So you're expected to die outside?
22:17If you weren't on the list, sorry, you're not getting in.
22:18It's like leasing stress.
22:19Yeah, yeah.
22:20Can't get in tonight.
22:21You're wearing runners.
22:22Yeah.
22:23So what do we have now?
22:24Or do you know?
22:25Is there anything that was- is the equivalent of this?
22:28Not that I know of, but certainly it's something that should be considered, absolutely.
22:32Because who knows what's going to happen.
22:34No one from government would tell us if there's a new bunker, but they could surely get
22:38one built for a billion or two, as long as you don't need a bike shed alongside it.
22:44Luckily, we've prepped.
22:46Yeah.
22:47Are we ready for it?
22:48No.
22:49We're not.
22:50The only way we'd survive at the end of the world is if we set up a competition.
22:52I'm going to survive longer than you.
22:55The gun stuff and learning all that, I feel a bit more confident if it came down to having
23:00to do that.
23:01But if a man presses a button in a big country that has serious weaponry, what are we going
23:08to do?
23:09My hope is that it's like Y2K.
23:12We were told that was going to be a big thing.
23:14I'm just hoping it's just going to go away.
23:16I was waiting for planes to drop on their way to Knock Airport.
23:19He's waiting for granted.
23:2028 days in a loan versus a nuclear bomb.
23:23Which are you choosing?
23:24It's a toss of a coin.
23:25Welcome to the Arizona Game Rodeo.
23:34Those bulls are as big as cars.
23:37Jeeps, bridges.
23:39All of our rights are gone.
23:41LGBTQ do not exist.
23:42Do you think those people are worried?
23:44You're scared.
24:14No you're scared.
24:15I'm just going to rush over time.
24:16Keep their time.
24:17I'm so unsuccessfully not born before you say anything.
24:19Go with the
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