Hi °C | Lo °C EGYPT'S famous Pyramids of Giza and Rio de Janeiro's Christ the Redeemer statue will go green on St Patrick's Day for the first time.
The sites are joining a record number of landmarks and iconic monuments marking our national day.
In what Tourism Ireland hailed as a major coup, the Sphinx of Giza will also go green.
Other newcomers to the “global greening initiative” include the famous Welcome sign in Las Vegas, the Little Mermaid in Copenhagen, HMS Belfast in London, City Hall in Houston, Texas, and the Citadel in Jordan.
The World Heritage Site, the Tower of Hercules in Galicia, Spain, the International School in Bonn and the FC Bayern Munich's Allianz Arena are also on the list.
The new sites will join the likes of Sydney Opera House, Niagara Falls, the Leaning Tower of Pisa, the Prince's Palace of Monaco, Table Mountain in South Africa and the Empire State Building, which have all taken part.
The expanded programme is being used as a way of promoting the Government's tourist initiative The Gathering.
Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport, Leo Varadkar, said: “Even the Pharaohs are going green this year”.
