Forget The Giants Causeway and Titanic Belfast – the north of Ireland has so much more for visitors and locals to see.
UTV’s Hidden NI is back on our screens to guide us, with presenter Sara O’Kane exploring some of our lesser known places from land, air and sea.
Sara swaps her reporter’s jackets for hard hats, safety goggles and lifejackets as she’s travelling across Northern Ireland celebrating our hidden gems, finding out about places we never knew existed, as well as exploring places we don’t normally get to see.
Episode one, currently available on catch-up at itv.com/utvprogrammes saw Sara explore nine kilomentres of tunnels at an iron mine near Templepatrick with environmental geologist Kieran Parker.
She also got a view of the famous Carrick-a-Rede rope bridge by kayak, accompanied by a pod of very friendly dolphins and was given exclusive access to Belfast City Airport’s Air Traffic Control tower.
In forthcoming episodes, viewers will see Sara getting put to work at Exploris aquarium in Co.Down; spending a ‘night at the museum’ in Belfast; exploring some of Northern Ireland’s more unusual ancient buildings and fortifications, including Donaghadee Motte, Kirkistown Castle and Helen’s Tower in Bangor.
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She will also try out her ice-hockey skills with the Belfast Giants, get up close and personal with an elephant and find out how crisps and beer are made here.
“I was totally up for exploring more of the hidden Northern Ireland, with a few challenges thrown in along the way,” says Sara.
“It’s the people attached to many of these great spaces that make it all so interesting and bring it to life, so thank you to all the organisations and contributors who allowed us access to these hidden gems - we had great fun filming and we hope everyone enjoys watching.”
Hidden NI is a UTV production and is sponsored by Ulster University. The series continues on Tuesday at 8.30pm on UTV and on catch up after at www.itv.com/utvprogrammes.
