Global Greenings for St Patrick’s Day 2014

From the iconic site of Petra in Jordan, to Niagara Falls and Table Mountain, St Patrick’s Day will be celebrated by Ireland’s friends all over the world.

The Treasury in the ancient city of Petra, Jordan, a UNESCO World Heritage site, as well as the Holmenkollen ski jump in Oslo, will go green for the first time on St Patrick’s Day 2014, when they join Tourism Ireland’s Global Greening 2014.

The Tourism Ireland annual initiative, supported by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, sees a host of major landmarks and iconic sites across the world turn green around St Patrick’s Day. The Global Greening is emblematic of the relationship Ireland has built with our diaspora communities and the newer partnerships we have forged around the globe.

The Global Greening line-up for St Patrick’s Day 2014 was announced by Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade, Eamon Gilmore, and Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport, Leo Varadkar, with Niall Gibbons, CEO of Tourism Ireland, on 12 February 2014.

Each and every Greening is an expression of friendship as well as an open invitation to come to visit Ireland.

Speaking at the launch Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade Eamon Gilmore said:

"It is, like all the best ideas, simple, inspiring and infectious.  It is also of course the result of a lot of hard work behind the scenes, and it sets the scene for yet more hard work – translating the attention received by the Global Greening into deeper connections with communities around the world and more visitors making the trip to Ireland.

I would emphasise that these Greenings are about something more than simple publicity.  The Greenings are emblematic of a relationship that we have built as Ireland with our Diaspora communities and, increasingly, with countries around the world that take part in the Global Greening out of a spirit of friendship, respect and partnership.” 

St Patrick’s Day is a unique and unrivalled annual opportunity to promote Ireland worldwide, particularly in terms of tourism, but also to encourage people to study and invest in Ireland, and to showcase Irish companies, products, services, food and drink.

The Tourism Ireland Global Greening initiative will complement the broader trade and investment-focussed programme of Ministerial travel for the 2014 St Patrick’s Day period, which will be announced shortly.”

List of Tourism Ireland Global Greenings - first time Greenings marked with an asterisk

Great Britain

• London Eye
• Clyde Auditorium, affectionately known as the ‘Armadillo’ (SECC), Glasgow 
• The SSE Hydro, Glasgow *
• Manchester Town Hall

United States

• Niagara Falls (on both the Canadian and US sides)
• ‘Welcome’ sign, Las Vegas Empire State Building
• Empire State Building New York
• City Hall San Francisco
• Chicago River
• Chicago MYSTERY GREENING on 17 March *
• Chicago “Taking it to the Streets” on 10 March Congress Parkway *
• State Street *
• Chicago “Tall Buildings and Chicago Icons” on 11 March
• 311 South Wacker Drive “White Castle Building” (65-storey skyscraper) *
• Blue Cross Blue Shield Tower *
• Chicago Board of Trade *
• Millennium Park /Jay Pritzker Pavilion *
• Soldier Field stadium (home to the famous Chicago Bears team) *
• Trump International Hotel & Tower *
• Wrigley Building *
• Chicago “Eating Green Around the City” on 12 March *
• Chicago “Broadway in Chicago Goes Green” on 13 March
• Auditorium Theatre of Roosevelt University *
• Bank of America Theatre *
• Broadway Playhouse at Water Tower Place *
• Cadillac Palace Theatre *
• Oriental Theatre *
• Chicago “Northside Goes Green” on 14 March State Bank of Countryside *
• Four iconic buildings in Philadelphia including Cira Center (29-storey skyscraper in west Philadelphia)
• One Liberty Place (61-storey skyscraper) and Two Liberty Place (58-storey skyscraper)
• BNY Mellon Center (54-storey skyscraper)

Canada

• Whistler, Canada’s premier ski destination in British Columbia
• City Hall Toronto 
• Cabot Tower on Signal Hill
• St John’s, Newfoundland and Labrador *
• Canadian Museum of Nature, Ottawa

Austria

• Burgtheater (City Hall), Vienna
• Kaprun Castle, Zell-am-See region *
• Skiwelt Söll (ski resort) *

Belgium

• Manneken Pis statue, Belgium (“dressed” in Irish costume)

Czech Republic

• Petřín Lookout Tower, Prague *
• City Hall Viewing Tower, Ostrava *

France

• Sleeping Beauty’s castle at Disneyland® Paris *

Germany

• TV tower in Berlin’s Alexanderplatz
• Allianz Arena, Munich
• 'Lighthouse’ building in Düsseldorf
• Odeonsplatz in central Munich
• Neumünster church (built over the tomb of St Kilian)
• Würzburg Town Hall
• Würzburg Olympic Tower in the Olympic Park, Munich *
• Town Hall, Hannover *
• Irish consulate, Munich *
• Aer Lingus check-in desks at Frankfurt, Berlin, Hamburg and Munich Airports *
• AVIAREPS building, Frankfurt *
• Irish pubs network

Italy

• Leaning Tower of Pisa
• Porta San Giacomo, Bergamo (the imposing entrance to the Città Alta) *
• Fountain of Piazza dei Martiri, Reggio Emilia *
• Virgin Fitness Centres in Milan will green their spinning classes *

Malta

• Porte des Bombes

Monaco

• Prince’s Palace

Netherlands

• Evoluon Eindhoven *

Norway

• Holmenkollen ski jump, Oslo *

Slovenia

• Ljubljana Castle
• The famous “3 bridges” landmark in Ljubljana

Spain

• Cibeles Fountain and Palace, Madrid
• Palacio de Communiaciones, Madrid

Switzerland

• Rhine Falls, near Zurich (one of the highest waterfalls in Europe) *

Australia

• Sydney Opera House

New Zealand

• Sky Tower, Auckland, New Zealand 

Jordan

• The Treasury in the ancient city of Petra, Jordan *

Egypt

• Pyramids and the Sphinx, Egypt

India

• Taj Mahal Palace hotel in Mumbai, India *

South Africa

• Table Mountain, South Africa