The Colosseum in Rome, the Sacre Coeur Basilica in Paris and the Jumeirah Etihad Towers Hotel in Abu Dhabi will all go green for St Patrick’s Day this year for the first time.

Tourism Ireland says 120 landmark buildings across the world will light up for Paddy’s Day as part of its global tourism campaign.

This year is expected to be the best ever year for Irish tourism with 8 million visitors due to travel here - a 6% increase on last year.

Niall Gibbons, CEO of Tourism Ireland, Minister for Transport and Tourism Pascal Donohoe and Charlie Flanagan, Minister for Foreign Affairs, today launched the campaign. Mr Donohoe spoke about the aim to have 10m tourism visits to Ireland by 2025, with the global initiative around St. Patrick's Day central to that plan.

Tourism Minister Paschal Donohoe spoke to Newstalk Lunchtime about the Global Greening:

Other monuments set to go green for the first time this year include Porte de Bourgogne in Bordeaux, the John Seigenthaler Pedestrian Bridge in Nashville, Munich and Bamberg town halls, the National Sanctuary of Cristo Rei in Lisbon, the Fram polar exploration ship in Oslo, and the Tbilisi City Hall.

Tourism Ireland also says many 'old favourites' will be going green again this year, including Niagra Falls, the Leaning Tower of Pisa, and the Christ the Redeemer statue in Rio de Janeiro.

You can see a video of world monuments 'going green' below: