Tourism Ireland has confirmed that the Global Greening of well-known international landmarks for St Patrick's Day will not go ahead this year due to ongoing energy crisis.
The annual initiative has seen hundreds of sites, including the Leaning Tower of Pisa, Niagara Falls, the 'Welcome' sign in Las Vegas, the Sky Tower in Auckland and the Christ the Redeemer statue in Rio de Janeiro illuminated in green for Ireland's national holiday.
However, the Global Greening was paused last year as a result of the war in Ukraine, with many international landmarks lit up blue and yellow instead.
"For 2023, given the current energy crisis, Tourism Ireland has taken the decision not to promote the Global Greening initiative around St Patrick’s Day," a spokesperson for Tourism Ireland said.
"Despite the fact that we are not promoting Global Greening this year, the Tourism Ireland teams around the world are rolling out a major programme of trade, media and consumer activity this week to highlight the island of Ireland as a superb holiday destination."
Some sites may still decide to go green anyway.
One that has confirmed that it will be lit up in green tomorrow is the first landmark to take part in the Global Greening initiative when it started in 2010, the Sydney Opera House in Australia.
It will do so with the support of the New South Wales Government and the Sydney St Patrick's Day Organisation.
