The Irish Blood Transfusion Service was inundated with donors yesterday as hundreds of people made use of the national day of mourning to give blood as a mark of respect to those who perished in the attacks in the US.
While Friday is usually the slowest day of the week at the centre in D'Olier Street, Dublin, by noon the centre was full, and queues of people, many of whom were giving blood for the first time, had stretched through the door. The centre dealt with three times the usual number of donors.
"I've never given blood before, as I never had time. A lot of my friends do and I always planned to, and today with everything closed I just had time," said Teresa Keating from Artane.
"The US tragedy has spurred people on. In light of that awful tragedy people came here today to do something. They can't do it for the Americans but they can do it for each other," said Laura Finnegan, team leader at the centre.
The centre also welcomed back lapsed donors, many of whom had not visited the service in years. "I hadn't given blood in 14 years, but I came today because of what happened in America last Tuesday. And given that it's national day of mourning nobody minds standing in the queue," said Vincent Barry from Swords.
While only 100,000 Irish people donate blood annually, this past summer has seen a drop in the number of donors. After Tuesday's atrocities, however, the number of volunteers soared.
"What happened in America really brought it home to people how badly blood is needed. If we had any disaster we would be under huge pressure due to a lack of blood. This is a fantastic mark of respect," said Deirdre Healy, a spokeswoman for the transfusion service.
Several people who had stopped giving blood after the scandal that rocked the service in recent years returned yesterday. "I had given blood regularly until 1995, but then the blood trouble put me off. I came today because of what happened in America. I wanted to do something," said Margaret O'Sullivan from Drumcondra.