A blood donation clinic will open to the public today and tomorrow in Virginia, Co Cavan.
Paul McKinney is the Operations Director with the Irish Blood Transfusion Service, and says the walk-in clinic is part of an "urgent appeal" for blood donors to come forward.
Speaking on the Joe Finnegan Show earlier today, Paul claimed the situation in relation to a lack of blood supply in Irish hospitals is the "most serious" it has been in many years.
Due to a lack of supply, Paul revealed that the service was forced to issue a "pre-amber letter" to hospitals, asking for them to only place emergency orders.
While he says there are many different factors as to why there is limited supply, Paul admits that the Covid pandemic played a "major part" with hospitals now dealing with a backlog of surgeries and waiting lists, which requires "a lot of blood to get through."
In an appeal to ensure that the service isn't forced to issue an amber alert letter which could lead to the possible cancellation of elective surgeries, Paul has urged locals to "give blood if they can."
Previous to the pandemic, all clinics were walk-in, however, for this week, Paul has asked all regular donors who receive a text from the service to attend a clinic closest to them and for any new donors, to please go on to their website - giveblood.ie - and register.
Walk-in clinics will take place in Virginia College today and tomorrow between 3.45pm and 8pm.
