Photos: Tourism Ireland
Canadian astronaut Colonel Chris Hadfield, who put Ireland on the map with the first-ever tweet from space ‘as Gaeilge’ last year, is currently visiting the Emerald Isle.
The singing spaceman made Irish language history when he tweeted: ’Tá Éire fiorálainn! Land of green hills and dark beer. With capital Dublin glowing in the Irish night,’ along with a picture of Dublin from space.
So, it’s not surprising that when he came back down to earth, Tourism Ireland enlisted his help to showcase some of the country’s top visitor attractions and experiences.
The former International Space Station commander has had a number of engagements on the Emerald Isle over the last five days, including visits to Croke Park and the Guinness Storehouse in Dublin.
In Northern Ireland they visited Armagh, Cushendall and the Glens of Antrim, as well as Titanic Belfast. His itinerary also included Donegal and the spectacular Inishowen Peninsula, the starting point of Ireland’s new 2,500-kilometre touring route the ‘Wild Atlantic Way’.
Niall Gibbons, Tourism Ireland’s CEO, said: “We are delighted to welcome Chris Hadfield to Ireland. I would like to personally thank him for his tremendous generosity in agreeing to help us promote the island of Ireland around the world. Of course, he already began promoting Ireland last year, with the dramatic photos he tweeted from the International Space Station to his huge Twitter fan base.
“Chris is an enormously popular global figure and I am confident that our films of his visit to Ireland will be seen and shared by millions of potential holidaymakers around the world – inspiring them to come and sample the destination for themselves.”