Tourism Ireland’s largest Global Greening initiative ever is taking off today across the world, with some 278 iconic landmarks and sites in 44 countries around the world going green.
The initiative, which celebrates the island of Ireland and St Patrick, first began in 2010 in Sydney and Auckland and has gone from strength to strength each year since then.
World famous sites such as the London Eye, Niagara Falls and the Colosseum, alongside some of the more unusual newcomers for 2017, including The Big Fiddle of the Ceilidh on Cape Breton Island in Canada and two rhino statues in Nairobi National Park, are turning a shade of green to celebrate our national day.
Niall Gibbons, CEO of Tourism Ireland, said: "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 2017 tourism promotional drive."
Even an Ethiopian Airlines airplane in Addis Ababa will be green - while the famous red carpet in Cannes will become the green carpet today.
Burj Al Arab hotel, Dubai. Image: Tourism Ireland
Rhino Statues, Nairobi. Image: Tourism Ireland
Colosseum, Rome. Image: Tourism Ireland
Niagra Falls, Canada. Image: Tourism Ireland
Full list of landmarks and sites going green in 2017: (A first time 'greening' is marked by a *)
Great Britain
London Eye
Nelson’s Column, London
Heron Tower, London *
City Hall, London *
Selfridges, London
Selfridges, Birmingham
Trafford Centre, Manchester
North America
United States
One World Trade Center (formerly Freedom Tower), New York *
Empire State Building, New York
Aisling Irish Community Center, New York
Civic Opera House, Chicago
Chicago Gaelic Park
Irish American Heritage Center, Chicago *
John Hancock Center, Chicago
Navy Pier, Chicago
Novak Construction, Chicago
One Prudential Plaza, Chicago
Sheraton Grand Chicago
State Street, Chicago
Wrigley Building, Chicago
‘Welcome’ sign, Las Vegas
City Hall, San Francisco
Pacific Science Center, Seattle
Canada
Niagara Falls (on both the Canadian and US sides)
Canadian Museum of Nature, Ottawa
The Distillery District, Toronto
Whistler (ski resort)
Mainland Europe
Austria
Wiener Riesenrad (Giant Ferris Wheel), Vienna
Bergisel Sprungschanze Stadion (ski jump), Innsbruck
Belgium
Manneken Pis statue, Brussels (“dressed” in Irish costume)
City Hall, Antwerp *
Cloth Hall, Ypres *
Town Hall, Mons
Finland
Irish Ice Fishing Championship, Tampere *
Restaurant RantaCasino, Heinola
Croatia
Bandic fountains, Zagreb *
Cyprus
Municipal Town Hall, Nicosia
France
Roue de Paris, Tuileries Gardens, Paris
Irish Embassy, Paris
Tapis rouge lumineux (red carpet), Cannes *
L’Hôtel de Ville, Cannes
La Croisette, Cannes
Palais des Festivals et des Congrès, Cannes
Tour de la Castre au Suquet, Cannes
Germany
Neumünster church, Würzburg
Rathaus (Town Hall), Würzburg
Italy
Colosseum, Rome
Leaning Tower of Pisa
Pozzo di San Patrizio (St Patrick’s Well), Orvieto *
Teatro Alfonso Rendano (Rendano Theatre), Cosenza *
Castello Normanno-Svevo (Swabian Norman Castle), Cosenza *
Municipio (Town Hall), Cosenza *
Fontane Danzanti (Dancing Fountains), Cosenza *
Latvia
Riga City Council
Poland
Palace of Culture and Science, Warsaw
University Bridge, Bydgoszcz
Spodek (arena), Katowice *
Galeria Echo (shopping centre), Kielce
Father Bernatek (Kladka Bernatka) footbridge, Kraków
Lipska Street flyover, Kraków
Tauron Arena, Kraków
Arena Lublin
Ratusz (Town Hall), Poznan
Stadion Wroclaw
Ratusz (Town Hall), Rzeszów
Portugal
National Sanctuary of Cristo Rei (Christ the King statue), Lisbon
Museu Condes de Castro Guimarães, Cascais
The Netherlands
Windmill, Weert
Romania
Sheraton Hotel, Bucharest *
Slovakia
Radisson Blu Carlton Hotel, Bratislava
Spain
Plaça de Catalunya, Barcelona *
Fountains on Gran Via, Barcelona *
City Council, Murcia *
Switzerland
The Rhine Falls, near Zurich
Australia and New Zealand
Australia
Town Hall, Sydney
State Library of New South Wales, Sydney
Queensland Performing Arts Centre (QPAC), Brisbane
Perth Airport *
The Bell Tower, Perth
Council House, Perth
Elizabeth Quay, Perth
State Library of Victoria, Melbourne
New Zealand
Sky Tower, Auckland
Brazil
Christ the Redeemer statue, Rio de Janeiro
Sede da FIESP (headquarters of Federação das Indústrias do Estado de São Paulo), São Paulo*
China
Great Wall of China
Ethiopia
Ethiopian Airlines Airbus A350, Addis Ababa *
Israel
Water Tower, Ramat Gan (near Tel Aviv) *
Japan
Torii of the Ise Grand Shrine, Ise, Mie Prefecture
Matsue Castle, Matsue *
Karakoro Art Studio, Matsue
Kenya
Rhino statue, Nairobi National Park *
Mozambique
Fortress of Maputo *
Palestine
Yasser Arafat Museum, Ramallah *
Russia
Tverskaya Street, Moscow
Rwanda
Kigali Convention Centre, Kigali *
South Korea
Gwangandaegyo (Diamond Bridge), Busan *
United Arab Emirates
Burj Al Arab hotel, Dubai
Uganda
Equator Sign and Line, Uganda
