The Eden Project Biomes shone out bright green yesterday to mark St Patrick’s Day - and 18 years since the attraction was built by a crew led by an ‘indomitable Irishman’.

Jerry O’Leary was works manager in charge of the team who helped the biomes rise up out of the former china clay quarry near St Austell.

More than 20 million people have visited the Eden Project since it opened in 2001 and it has generated more than £2 billion for the region’s economy.

But few will know that without Jerry’s leadership, Eden may never have opened on time or on budget.

The biggest challenge came in the winter of 1998/99, when 100 consecutive days of rain fell, turning the Eden site into a quagmire.

Eden founder Sir Tim Smit said: ‘One morning a hillside in the old pit slid down into the base. It was a terrifying sight but fortunately we were in the company of a genius in Jerry O’Leary and his trusted crew. Jerry had a reassuring refrain: “I’ve seen worse.”

‘Against all odds they performed this massive mud shift and soon we were back on track. All of us at Eden will never forget the herculean efforts of this indomitable Irishman and his team and their magnificent industrial choreography.

‘It’s fitting that 18 years on, to mark St Patrick’s Day and our 18th birthday, the Biomes shone out with the colour of Jerry’s homeland.’