Some of the 300 people who answered urgent appeals for blood supplies in Dublin, waiting to donate blood at Pelican House in Mespil Road yesterday. Photograph: Cyril Byrne
More than 300 people responded to an urgent appeal for donors by the Blood Transfusion Service Board by giving blood at its Dublin headquarters yesterday.
At one stage the queue at Pelican House spilled down the stairs, and the unprecedented crowds meant that some people queued for up to three hours.
The BTSB chief executive officer, Mr Martin Hynes, described the response to the radio and newspaper appeals as "phenomenal". Supplies had been at half the normal level after the flu epidemic and some major transplant operations at Dublin hospitals.
"We have opened on Sundays before, but we have never seen anything like the amount of people who have come today," he said. The results of the appeal would more than replenish supplies, but it was important that people returned to give blood again.
Many of the donors were first-timers. Catherine from Castleknock said the birth of her own child and her mother-in-law undergoing a major operation had motivated her. "It's something I had been putting off, but when I heard the appeal on the radio I decided to come," she said.
Suzanne MacAuley from Rings end said she had waited for 2 1/2 hours but "the atmosphere was good and nobody was complaining. It is really convenient to come on a Sunday."
Dubliner Ray Cunningham, a regular blood donor, had persuaded his girlfriend, Derval Reidy, to give blood for the first time. "The appeal gave me the push I needed," she said afterwards.
Siobhan English, a BTSB worker, said: "We are really grateful to the donors who have taken time to come here today. They have been really patient despite the delays".
Pelican House is open for donations from 9.30 a.m. to 8.15 p.m., Monday to Thursday.