The initiative, which see hundreds of iconic landmarks around the world light up green to celebrate the island of Ireland and St Patrick, first began in Sydney – when the Sydney Opera House went green on 17 March 2010, on the 200th anniversary of an historic event celebrating Ireland, hosted by the then Governor of New South Wales, Lachlan Macquarie.
The campaign has gone from strength to strength every year since then, with over 360 sites in at least 51 different countries who took part for St Patrick’s 2019 this past weekend, with lots of new landmarks who signed up to take part this year.
The story of St Patrick has fascinated the world for centuries. Almost 1,600 years after he first came to the island of Ireland, Australian visitors can still witness his legacy today. Sofia Hansson, Manager Tourism Ireland, Australia and New Zealand said, “This was the tenth 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. 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.”
2019 saw the iconic Sydney Opera House sails turning green once again welcoming new additions across Australia, including the Melbourne Star Observation Wheel, the Matagarup Bridge and the Crown both located in Perth.
Other Australian landmarks who spread the Irish love for the ‘Global Greening’ initiative include the State Library of New South Wales, Town Hall Sydney; National Carillion, Embassy of Ireland and Telstra Tower in Canberra, Optus Stadium Perth, The Bell Tower, Council House, Yagan Square and Elizabeth Quay in Perth; The Big Banana Fun Park Coffs Harbour and The Big Kangaroo Border Village.
New global sites and buildings overseas who also took part in Tourism Ireland’s Global Greening 2019 included: The Cotton Tree in Freetown, Sierra Leone, the historic Cutty Sark sailing ship in Greenwich; the Beatus Rhenanus bridge over the Rhine – a symbolic bridge between France and Germany which links the city of Strasbourg and the town of Kehl; and ‘Niki’, a Cathay Pacific DC-3 airplane on display in the Cathay Pacific headquarters in Hong Kong.
These new sites joined some ‘old favourites’ which also went green in previous years – including the Colosseum, the Leaning Tower of Pisa, Niagara Falls, the ‘Welcome’ sign in Las Vegas, Sleeping Beauty castle at Disneyland Paris, Burj al Arab, Christ the Redeemer statue, the London Eye and many others.
Australian Greenings included:
- Sydney Opera House
- State Library of New South Wales
- Town Hall Sydney
- The Big Kangaroo (Rooey II), Border Village
- The Big Banana Fun Park
- Matagarup Bridge, Perth
- Perth Bell Tower
- Perth Council House
- Elizabeth Quay, Perth
- Optus Stadium, Perth
- Yagan Square, Perth
- Perth Airport
- Crown Perth
- National Carillion, Canberra
- Embassy of Ireland, Canberra
- Telstra Tower
- Melbourne Star Observation Wheel
Footage Courtesy of Tourism Ireland Global Greening