Tourism Ireland’s Global Greening goes from strength to strength with 150 major landmarks and sites taking part this year – celebrating Ireland and St Patrick
Some 160 iconic landmarks and sites around the world will be illuminated in green over the coming days – as part of Tourism Ireland’s 2015 Global Greening initiative to celebrate the island of Ireland and St Patrick.
From Rome to Rio and from London to Las Vegas, a host of buildings and sites around the world are turning a shade of green to celebrate our national day. In a major coup for Irish tourism, these sites include the Colosseum in Rome, the Sacré Cœur basilica in Paris and Edinburgh Castle for the first time ever – as well as the Great Wall of China, Niagara Falls, the Christ the Redeemer statue in Rio de Janeiro and the famous ‘Welcome’ sign in Las Vegas.
Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport Paschal Donohoe said: ‘The strength of the global greening initiative is demonstrated by its growth since it was first introduced. The fact that 160 buildings have opted to go green to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day this year brings an enormous sense of pride to our people at home and across the world. Being able to put ourselves front and centre on the world stage in this way reaps unrivalled dividends in terms of publicity, promoting Ireland and getting the message out about our recovery and the progress we are making. Having spent the last five days in California representing the Government for the St. Patrick’s Day programme, I saw first-hand the impact this feast day has on the diaspora, and in the boardrooms. It is estimated that last year the Government’s St. Patrick’s Day efforts secured €5million in new business. It is my hope that as our recovery is deepened we will improve on that figure and translate that investment into even more jobs at home’.
Tourism Ireland’s annual Global Greening initiative has gone from strength to strength – from its beginning in 2010, with just the Sydney Opera House going green, to this year, with some 160 sites taking part. Niall Gibbons, CEO of Tourism Ireland, said: ‘This is the sixth year of Tourism Ireland’s Global Greening initiative and it’s bigger and better than ever this year, with some famous additions like the Colosseum in Rome, the Sacré Cœur basilica in Paris, Edinburgh Castle, the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville, the Place de l’Etoile in Beirut and even the Equator Sign and Line in Uganda’.
“St Patrick’s Day traditionally marks the real start of the tourism season for us; our aim is to bring a smile to the faces of people around the world and to convey the message that Ireland offers the warmest of welcomes and great fun, as well as wonderful scenery and heritage. Our St Patrick’s programme spans Great Britain, Mainland Europe, North America, Australia and New Zealand, as well as emerging tourism markets like China, India, Brazil, the Middle East and South Africa. We are using every opportunity to capitalise on Ireland’s heightened profile this week; the saturation coverage about Ireland across the global airwaves, in newspapers and digital media, is an invaluable boost for our overall tourism promotional drive.”
Ends
Notes to editors:
Landmarks and iconic sites around the world joining Tourism Ireland’s ‘Global Greening’ for St Patrick’s Day 2015
Note: first time ‘greenings’ marked *
Great Britain
· The Shard (top five floors), London *
· London Eye
· Nelson’s Column, London *
· Selfridges, London
· Selfridges, Birmingham
· Town Hall clock, Manchester
· March Marketplace (ETOA workshop), Wembley Stadium, London *
· Edinburgh Castle *
· Edinburgh Airport *
· ‘Armadillo’ (SECC), Glasgow
· The SSE Hydro, Glasgow
· Wales Millennium Centre, Cardiff *
North America
– United States
· Grand Ole Opry (the show that made country music famous!), Nashville *
· John Seigenthaler Pedestrian Bridge, Nashville *
· The Parthenon, Nashville *
· Nashville Predators (ice hockey team) stadium, Nashville *
· Tennessee Titans (American football team) field, Nashville *
· Forsyth Park fountain, Savannah *
· ‘Welcome’ sign, Las Vegas
· High Roller (world’s tallest observation wheel), Las Vegas *
· Sign at The Venetian hotel, Las Vegas *
· Sign at The Palazzo hotel, Las Vegas *
· The LINQ hotel fountain, Las Vegas *
· Empire State Building, New York
· Fitzpatrick Manhattan hotel, New York *
· Fitzpatrick Grand Central hotel, New York *
· City Hall, Houston
· City Hall, Denver *
· Seattle Great Wheel
· Pacific Science Center, Seattle
· GREENing of Chicago
– Art Institute of Chicago *
– United Center (home to the Chicago Blackhawks and Chicago Bulls) *
– Block Thirty Seven (shopping mall) *
– Macy’s *
– Navy Pier
– John Hancock Center
– Old St Patrick’s Church
– Blue Cross Blue Shield Tower
– Trump International Hotel & Tower
– Wrigley Building
– Chicago Board of Trade
– Novak Construction
– State Street
– Hilton Chicago
Canada
· Niagara Falls (on both the Canadian and US sides)
· Algonquin Provincial Park, Ontario *
· Fairmont Pacific Rim hotel, Vancouver *
· Fairmont Le Château Montebello hotel, Québec *
· Fairmont Empress hotel, Victoria *
· Whistler, Canada’s famous ski resort in British Columbia
· City Hall, Toronto
· Hôtel de Ville (City Hall), Montreal *
· Olympic Stadium, Montreal *
· Complexe Desjardins, Montreal *
· Verdun Borough Hall, Montreal *
· La Tour McGill, Montreal *
· Canadian Museum of Nature, Ottawa
· Cabot Tower on Signal Hill, St John’s, Newfoundland and Labrador
Mainland Europe
– Austria
· Burgtheater (city hall), Vienna
· Wiener Riesenrad (Giant Ferris Wheel in the Prater Amusement Park), Vienna
· Skiwelt Söll (ski resort)
· Kaprun Castle, Zell-am-See region
Belgium
· Burg (town hall), Bruges *
· Town Hall and Belfry, Mons *
· Manneken Pis statue, Brussels (“dressed” in Irish costume)
· Grand Place and Town Hall, Brussels
Czech Republic
· Petřín Lookout Tower, Prague
· City Hall, Ostrava
Denmark
· Kalvebod Brygge waves, Copenhagen *
France
· Sacré-Cœur Basilica, Paris *
· Galeries Lafayette, Paris *
· Sleeping Beauty castle at Disneyland® Paris
· Irish Embassy, Paris
· Irish Cultural Centre, Paris *
· Publicis landmark building on the Champs Elysées, Paris *
· Porte de Bourgogne, Bordeaux *
· Hotel Negresco, Nice *
· La Mairie (town hall), Nice *
· La Croisette, Cannes *
· La Mairie (town hall), Cannes *
· Le Souk, Cannes *
· Basilica of Notre-Dame de Fourvière, Lyon *
· Le Palais de justice historique, Lyon
· Le Musée des Confluences (science centre and anthropology museum), Lyon *
· La Mairie (town hall), Villeurbanne (Rhône-Alpes region) *
· Astroballe (indoor sporting arena), Villeurbanne *
Georgia
· City Hall, Tbilisi *
Germany
· Allianz Arena, Munich
· Berliner Funkturm *
· Town Hall, Munich *
· Odeonsplatz, Munich
· Olympic Tower, Munich
· Amerikahaus, Munich
· Fernsehturm (TV tower), Stuttgart *
· Town Hall, Bamberg *
· English language school, Bamberg *
· ‘Lighthouse’ building, Düsseldorf
· Neumünster church (built over the tomb of St Kilian), Würzburg
· Town Hall, Würzburg
· Irish pubs network
Italy
· Colosseum, Rome *
· Leaning Tower of Pisa
Luxembourg
· Hôtel de Ville (City Hall), Luxembourg city
Monaco
· Prince’s Palace
The Netherlands
· ‘I Amsterdam’ sign (in front of the Rijksmuseum), Amsterdam *
· Splendor Amsterdam
Norway
· Fram polar exploration ship, Oslo *
Portugal
· National Sanctuary of Cristo Rei (Christ the King statue), Lisbon *
· Museu Condes de Castro Guimarães, Caiscais
Serbia
· Ada Bridge, Belgrade *
Slovakia
· Radisson Blu Carlton Hotel, Bratislava
Slovenia
· Ljubljana Castle
· Philharmonic Hall, Slovenia *
Spain
· Cibeles Fountain and Palacio de Comunicaciones de Cibeles, Madrid
· Puerta de Álcala, Madrid
· Tower of Hércules, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, Galicia
· Marbella Arch, Málaga *
· Plaza Adeje, Tenerife *
Sweden
· Ericsson Globe (national indoor arena), Stockholm *
Switzerland
· Rhine Falls, near Zurich
Australia and New Zealand
· Royal Exhibition Building (UNESCO World Heritage Site), Melbourne *
· Town Hall, Sydney *
· Hyde Park Barracks, Sydney
· State Library of New South Wales, Sydney
· AFL match, Sydney
· Old Parliament House, Canberra
· Council House, Perth
· Sky Tower, Auckland
· Auckland War Memorial Museum *
Emerging markets
· Christ the Redeemer statue, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
· Ponte das Bandeiras, São Paulo, Brazil *
· Viaduto do Chá (viaduct), São Paulo, Brazil *
· Monumento às bandeiras, São Paulo, Brazil *
· Biblioteca Mário de Andrade (public library), São Paulo, Brazil *
Statue de Borba Gato, São Paulo, Brazil *
The Great Wall of China
Shanghai Grand Theatre, China *
Pudong Shangri-La Hotel old and new towers, Shanghai, China
· Canton Tower, Guangzhou, China
· Building of the Mayor’s Office, Moscow, Russia *
Some Sevit (floating islands) in the Han River, Seoul, South Korea *
· Jumeirah Etihad Towers hotel, Abu Dhabi *
· Burj Al Arab hotel, Dubai
· El Ángel de la Independencia, Mexico City
· Museo Soumaya.Fundación Carlos Slim, Mexico City *
· Place de l’Etoile, Beirut, Lebanon *
· Equator Sign and Line, Uganda *
· Stelae (obelisks) of Axum, Ethiopia *
· Straits Quay lighthouse and marina, Penang, Malaysia *