Tourism Ireland today (2 March) announced details of some of the famous attractions and sites around the world which will go green to mark St Patrick’s Day. New for 2021 is the most northerly ‘greening’ in the world ever – a postbox at the summit of Øretoppen Mountain in Norway, 350 kms above the Arctic Circle!
The Sydney Opera House will join Tourism Ireland’s Global Greening once again this year, to mark St Patrick’s Day. The Global Greening initiative first began 11 years ago in Australia, when the iconic opera house was illuminated in green on 17 March 2010.
Other new sites taking part include Gwrych Castle in Wales, the filming location for the most recent series of reality TV show I’m A Celebrity … Get Me Out Of Here; the largest fountain in the world, The Palm Fountain in Dubai; the tallest building in South America, the Torre Costanera in Chile; Bled Castle in Slovenia; Pacific Park on the Santa Monica Pier in California; BC Place in Vancouver; the Sekenani Gate at the Maasai Mara National Reserve in Kenya; and Villa E-1027 in Roquebrune-Cap-Martin in France, which was designed and built by Irish architect and furniture designer Eileen Gray.
These new sites will join some ‘old favourites’ which have gone green in previous years – including the Leaning Tower of Pisa, Niagara Falls, Victoria Falls, the ‘Welcome’ sign in Las Vegas, the London Eye, the Sky Tower in Auckland, the Prince’s Palace of Monaco, the Cibeles Fountain in Madrid and many others.
In rolling out its Global Greening, Tourism Ireland aims to bring some positivity and hope to the 70+ million people around the world who claim links to the island of Ireland. At a time when Irish people overseas cannot travel home, Tourism Ireland wants to shine a green light in as many locations around the world as possible, giving our Diaspora a sense of connection with home and reminding them that we cannot wait to welcome them back, as soon as it is possible to do so.
Speaking at the launch, Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media, Catherine Martin TD, said: “Today, we’re launching Tourism Ireland’s 2021 Global Greening initiative, which has become so successful in helping to keep the island of Ireland in the spotlight overseas during the St Patrick’s Day period. The Global Greening initiative complements the Global Ireland strategy, which aims to strengthen Ireland’s engagement with our Diaspora and bring our rich culture and heritage to wider audiences. St Patrick’s Day provides a truly unique opportunity to promote Ireland on the international stage and to renew the strong bonds between Ireland, the international Irish community and our global partners. I would like to commend staff in our embassies and missions overseas, in the Department of Foreign Affairs and in Tourism Ireland for the outstanding work they have done in organising this initiative around the world.”
Niall Gibbons, CEO of Tourism Ireland, said: “2021 marks the 12th year of Tourism Ireland’s Global Greening initiative and each year I am delighted to see so many attractions and landmark sites wishing to get involved and to mark St Patrick’s Day. 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. This year, in particular, we aim to bring some positivity and hope to our Diaspora across the globe. At a time when Irish people overseas cannot travel home, we want to shine a green light in as many locations around the world as possible, giving our Diaspora a sense of connection with home and reminding them that we cannot wait to welcome them back, as soon as it is possible to do so.
“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 for the great support we receive from the Irish embassy network, as well as Education in Ireland and their work with partner universities and colleges. The eagerness of cities and countries everywhere to take part, despite the current unprecedented challenges, underlines the strength of the deep connection that people all over the world feel to Ireland.”
St Patrick’s Day will be a virtual celebration in 2021; however, Tourism Ireland will roll out a really extensive programme of promotions to capitalise on the heightened exposure for Ireland around the globe on 17 March, to ensure that Ireland remains ‘top of mind’ as a great holiday destination for bookings when the time is right. Tourism Ireland’s St Patrick’s programme will include:
- a fun, tailor-made event, called ‘St Patrick’s Day @Home Live’, which will be livestreamed on social media from Johnnie Fox’s pub in the Dublin Mountains, as well as from other locations around the island of Ireland;
- a new online video, inspiring people to think about holidaying in Ireland in the future, without encouraging travel right now;
- a big international publicity push in the run-up to, and on, St Patrick’s Day; and
- a programme of virtual travel trade and media events in all overseas markets, to mark our national day.
Niall Gibbons said: “This year, against the ongoing backdrop of COVID-19, our St Patrick’s Day programme around the world is more important than ever before. During this challenging time, we want to mark St Patrick’s Day and to keep Ireland to the fore in a positive light, on the day when people everywhere are thinking about Ireland.”
