He expected his ticket to say Greenland. Possibly Alaska. Maybe even Moscow. Instead, he was sent to Newfoundland, off the coast of Canada. "It's Ireland, man," says a disappointed Aonghus Weber, actor in Glenroe and traveller to distant parts. His experiences i dTalamh an Eisc, which were filmed over five weeks, will be screened on TG4 shortly as part of a new travel series, Buail Bothair.
It's snowing outside but talk is of distant shores in Renards - Dar Es Salaam, Calcutta, Papua New Guinea and Tanzania. Many of the intrepid travellers themselves are here. Grainne Ni Alluin, from Clondalkin, has come with her parents, Risteard O hAlluin and Gabrielle Ui Alluin, and some of her sisters and brothers - Eoin, Odharnaith and Odhran. Another sister, Sinead, is snowbound in Rathcoole, they explain. Eilis Ni Dhuill, from Carlow, who was sent to Papua New Guinea for the series, is here too.
Another fearless traveller, Maggie Breathnach, who spent a month in India, has travelled up from Ring in Co Waterford to party with her friends, including Brid de Faoite and Dave Byrne. Some behind the scene people from Co Waterford include Irial Mac Murchu, managing director of the Gaeltacht-based production company, Nemeton, Paula Ui Uallachain and Eanna de Faoite. Also chillin' is series producer Larry Masterson, who says his 90-minute film on singer Shane McGowan will be in cinemas next month.