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13th Feb 2018

Tourism Ireland Announces Details Of 2018 ‘Global Greening’ For Paddy’s Day

James Fenton

Christmas is now a distant memory and there’s a bit of an auld stretch in the evenings which can only mean one thing. Paddy’s Day is just around the corner. 

Tourism Ireland today announced details of the 2018 ‘Global Greening’ which will see over 300 stadiums, statues, museums and towers turn green to celebrate our national day on March 17.

Making their Global Greening debuts this year will be the iconic Space Needle in Seattle, Chimo the Polar Bear statue in Ontario, the fountains in London’s Trafalgar Square and the San Mamés stadium which is home to Spanish football club Athletic Bilbao. Greening up for the first time since 2014 will be the famous Sydney Opera House in Australia. 

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Other new sites and buildings for 2018 include the Wawa Goose monument in Ontario and the Cochrane Polar Bear Habitat (also in Ontario), the National Football Museum in Manchester, the Palais de l’Europe (the seat of the Council of Europe) in Strasbourg among a host of others. 

The newbies will be joining old favourites such as the Colosseum in Rome, the Leaning Tower of Pisa, the Sacré-Cœur Basilica and the Sleeping Beauty castle at Disneyland in Paris, the Sky Tower in Auckland, Niagara Falls and the London Eye.

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Niall Gibbons, CEO of Tourism Ireland, said:

“This is the ninth year of Tourism Ireland’s Global Greening initiative and each year I am delighted to see even more well-known attractions and landmark sites wishing to get involved and join our St Patrick’s celebrations. The success of our Global Greening initiative is due in no small part to the great work that has been carried out across the world by Irish people and the Diaspora. I would particularly like to thank the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade for the great support we receive from the Irish embassy network.

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Mr. Gibbons went on to speak of the huge numbers of people around the world who celebrate and identify with St. Patrick’s Day, and how March 17 offers them a chance to reconnect with the nation of Ireland:

The eagerness of cities and countries everywhere to take part underlines the strength of the deep connection that people all over the world feel to Ireland. More than 70 million people around the world claim links to the island of Ireland and St Patrick’s Day is a truly unique opportunity to reconnect them with their heritage.
 
“People across the world instantly identify St Patrick’s Day with the island of Ireland and that heightened profile allows us to put the Ireland holiday experience in the spotlight – from Sydney to Seattle and from Rome to Rio de Janeiro. Our St Patrick’s programme this year will span Great Britain, Mainland Europe, North America, Australia, as well as emerging tourism markets such as China and India.

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The full list of Global Greenings can be read below with first-time greenings marked with a (*). 

(take a deep breath…)

Great Britain

  • London Eye
  • Heron Tower, London 
  • Nelson’s Column, London
  • Selfridges, London
  • Selfridges, Birmingham
  • Selfridges, Manchester
  • Trafalgar Square fountains, London *
  • National Football Museum, Manchester *
  • Town Hall clock, Manchester 
  • Gateshead Millennium Bridge, Newcastle upon Tyne 

North America
United States

  • Empire State Building, New York
  • Wells Fargo building, Albuquerque 
  • Chicago Board of Trade building
  • Civic Opera House, Chicago 
  • Irish American Heritage Center, Chicago 
  • John Hancock Center, Chicago
  • Novak Construction, Chicago
  • Navy Pier, Chicago 
  • One Prudential Plaza, Chicago
  • Soldier Field, Chicago
  • State Street, Chicago
  • Wrigley Building, Chicago
  • Harbor Bridge, Corpus Christi *
  • Omni Dallas Hotel 
  • Reunion Tower, Dallas
  • City Hall, Denver
  • City Hall, Houston
  • Junction Bridge pedestrian walkway and Main Street bridge, Little Rock
  • City Hall, San Francisco
  • Coit Tower, San Francisco
  • Space Needle, Seattle * 

Canada

  • Niagara Falls (on both the Canadian and US sides)
  • Casa Loma, Toronto 
  • City Hall, Toronto
  • The Distillery District, Toronto
  • Calgary Tower, Calgary
  • Chimo the polar bear, Cochrane *
  • Cochrane Polar Bear Habitat *
  • Cochrane sign *
  • Canadian Museum of Nature, Ottawa
  • Cabot Tower on Signal Hill, St John’s, Newfoundland and Labrador 
  • The Big Nickel, Sudbury
  • The Wawa Goose *

Mainland Europe
Austria

  • Burgtheater, Vienna•    Kunsthistorisches Museum (Art History Museum), Vienna *
  • Naturhistorisches Museum (Natural History Museum), Vienna *
  • Wiener Riesenrad (ferris wheel), Vienna
  • Bergiselschanze (ski jump), Innsbruck

Belgium

  • Grand Place, Brussels
  • Manneken Pis statue, Brussels (“dressed” in Irish costume)
  • Town Hall, Dinant *
  • Celtic Cross, Fontenoy 
  • Belfry, Mons

Croatia

  • Onofrio Fountain, Dubrovnik *

Cyprus

  • Municipal Town Hall, Nicosia 

Denmark

  • Nimb Hotel, Copenhagen *
  • Radisson Blu Royal Hotel, Copenhagen 

Estonia

  • Vabaduse Väljak (Freedom Square), Tallinn *

Finland

  • Ice skating rink, Oulu *

France

  • Sacré-Cœur Basilica, Paris 
  • Beaugrenelle (shopping centre), Paris *
  • BHV Marais (Bazar de l’Hôtel de Ville – department store), Paris
  • Centre Culturel Irlandais, Paris
  • Château de la Muette (headquarters of the OECD), Paris 
  • Galeries Lafayette, Paris 
  • Irish Embassy, Paris
  • Sleeping Beauty castle at Disneyland® Paris        
  • University of Angers – ESTHUA, Angers *
  • Hôtel de Ville, Cannes 
  • La Croisette, Cannes 
  • La Tour du Suquet, Cannes 
  • Musée de la Castre, Cannes 
  • Palais des Festivals et des Congrès, Cannes 
  • Tapis rouge lumineux (red carpet), Cannes 
  • Secondary school, Châteaudun *
  • Hôtel de Ville, Grandvilliers 
  • Hôtel de Ville, Mellac 
  • Hôtel de Ville, Royan *
  • Hôtel de Ville, Saint-Mandé 
  • Palais de l’Europe (seat of the Council of Europe), Strasbourg *

Germany

  • Lighthouse building, Düsseldorf
  •  Altes Rathaus, Gescher
  •  McKiernan’s Irish Café, Gescher 
  •  ‘Fridolin’ the carp statue, Höchstadt an der Aisch
  •  Allianz Arena, Munich 
  •  BMW Welt, Munich 
  •  Heidecksburg Castle, Rudolstadt 
  •  Königsbau, Stuttgart *
  •  Neumünster church, Würzburg 
  •  Rathaus (Town Hall), Würzburg

Hungary

  •  Müpa Budapest 
  •  Tüskecsarnok (indoor arena), Budapest 

Italy

  •  Colosseum, Rome
  •  Leaning Tower of Pisa 
  • Il Pozzo di San Patrizio (St Patrick’s Well), Orvieto
  • Torre del Moro, Orvieto *

The Netherlands

  •  SkyLounge Amsterdam *
  •  Splendor Amsterdam 
  •  Uilenburgersjoel Amsterdam *
  •  DOT, Groningen *
  •  Euromast, Rotterdam *
  •  SkyView Scheveningen Pier, The Hague
  •  Windmill, Weert 

Norway

  •  Radisson Blu Plaza Hotel, Oslo *

Poland

  •  Palace of Culture and Science, Warsaw
  • Spodek (arena), Katowice 
  •  Galeria Echo (shopping centre), Kielce 
  •  Father Bernatek (Kladka Bernatka) footbridge, Kraków
  •  Lipska Street flyover, Kraków
  •  Tauron Arena, Kraków 
  •  Archaeological Museum, Poznań *
  •  Bishop Jordan Bridge, Poznań *
  •  Grand Theatre, Poznań *
  •  Raczyński Library, Poznań 
  •  City Hall, Toruń *
  •  Bank Zachodni WBK headquarters, Wroclaw 
  •  Centennial Hall, Wroclaw 
  •  Grunwaldzki Bridge, Wroclaw 
  •  National Museum, Wroclaw *
  •  Opera House, Wroclaw *
  •  University Bridge, Wroclaw 
  •  University of Wroclaw *

Portugal

  • Santuario Nacional de Cristo Rei (Christ the King statue), Lisbon
  • Museu Condes de Castro Guimarães, Cascais

Serbia

  •  Ada Bridge (Most na Adi), Belgrade 
  • Palace Albanija, Belgrade 
  •  Hotel Moskva, Belgrade
  •  Canadian Embassy, Belgrade
  •  Glavna Pošta (main post office), Belgrade *
  •  Hotel Park, Belgrade
  •  House of the National Assembly of Serbia Narodna Skupstina, Belgrade 

Spain

  • Tower of Hércules, A Coruña, Galicia 
  • San Mamés stadium, Bilbao * 
  •  Marbella arches 
  • Tortosa town *

Sweden

  • Vasa warship, Stockholm 

Switzerland

  •  The Rhine Falls, near Zurich                     

Australia and New Zealand
Australia

  •  Sydney Opera House
  •  Hyde Park Barracks, Sydney
  •  Town Hall, Sydney
  •  The Big Kangaroo, Border Village 
  • The Bell Tower, Perth
  •  Council House, Perth
  •  Elizabeth Quay, Perth

New Zealand

  •  Sky Tower, Auckland
  • Christchurch Airport
  • Michael Fowler Centre, Wellington 

Emerging Markets
Brazil

  •  Christ the Redeemer statue, Rio de Janeiro
  •  Torre de TV Digital, Brasília
  • Torre da Globo (Globo TV Tower), São Paulo
  •  Catedral de Pedra de Canela, Canela, Rio Grande do Sul *

China 

  •  Canton Tower, Guangzhou

Israel

  •  Sammy Ofer Stadium, Haifa *
  •  Water Tower, Ramat Gan
  •  City Hall, Tel Aviv

Japan

  • Ise Ohtorii, Ise City  
  • Yokohama Marine Tower, Naka Ward, Yokohama *

Malaysia

  •  Straits Quay lighthouse, Penang

Mexico

  •  El Ángel de la Independencia, Mexico City
  •  Paseo de la Reforma, Mexico City *
  •  Glorieta de los Caballos, Guadalajara *
  •  Los Arcos, Guadalajara 
  •  Monumento a los Ninos Héroes, Guadalajara 
  •  Palacio Municipal, Guadalajara
  •  Parque Lineal Pablo Neruda, Guadalajara *
  •  Parque Unidad Deportivo la Tucson, Guadalajara *
  •  Paseo Chapultepec, Guadalajara 
  •  Rotonda de los Jaliscienses Ilustres, Guadalajara 

United Arab Emirates

  • Yas Viceroy hotel, Abu Dhabi
  •  Dubai Creek Golf & Yacht Club, Dubai *
  •  Dubai Duty Free Tennis Stadium, Dubai

Vietnam

  •  Pen Monument, Hoan Kiem Lake, Hanoi *

(all images: Tourism Ireland)

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