You can donate on your lunch break.

With blood supplies running critically low across the country, the Irish Blood Transfusion Service has opened a walk-in donor clinic at St Finbarr’s Hospital.

The service needs an additional 5,000 donations in the coming eight weeks (on top of the usual 17,000) after more blood was issued than collected during June.

IBTS Operations Director Paul McKinney said the decline in units collected is most likely due to more donors travelling on holidays and Covid-19 levels increasing across the country again.

Speaking on RTÉ’s Morning Ireland, McKinney said the service was facing a “really serious situation” and urged regular donors to donate blood before they head off on holidays this summer.

“We appreciate it may take longer than normal to donate at walk-in clinics during this critical appeal. We sincerely apologise for that and would ask donors to bear with us,” Mr McKinney said,

“We feel this is a necessary step to take so we can bolster the supply.”

New donors, or returning donors (five years since last donation) should view the New & Returning donors Eligibility quiz to check if there are any reasons they might not be able to donate.