Urgent call for blood donors this summer
Director of Donor Services at the IBTS, Paul McKinney, said the service needs an additional 2,000 donations over the next month to stabilise the supply. He pointed to summer holidays, heatwaves, and reduced donor clinic attendance as key factors behind the current dip. McKinney also encouraged more donors from diverse backgrounds to come forward, particularly individuals of African heritage, whose donations are essential for treating conditions like sickle-cell disease.
In Louth, there is a long-standing tradition of blood donation, and one local man, Brendan Kelly from Dundalk, was recently honoured for his contribution. A painter and decorator by trade, Mr Kelly has donated blood over 100 times and was awarded the Porcelain Pelican Award earlier this year at the North-East Donor Awards in Navan. 'I donate because I can,' he said. 'If just one pint helps someone in need, then it's worth it.'
The IBTS is encouraging people from all parts of the county to attend their nearest clinic, with appointments available throughout July and August. Donors must be aged between 18 and 64, weigh over 50kg, and meet standard health requirements. The process typically takes under an hour, and each donation can help save up to three lives.
Local organisers and health officials are urging first-time donors to step up and regular donors to continue giving through the summer months. With blood stocks at dangerously low levels, the message is simple: Louth needs donors now more than ever.
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Irish Independent
4 days ago
- Irish Independent
Louth suicide prevention groups concerned at ‘worrying spike' in tragic deaths
'We have noticed a worrying spike in the number of suicides in the county over the last month and we want to let people know that we are here to help,' says Mark Gordan PRO of SAFE Castlebellingham, a mental health and suicide prevention charity set up following the deaths of two young brothers in 2021. The community rallied together to provide a free confidential service so that people in crisis could avail of support services. Now, in response to a concerning number of deaths by suicide, the charity have erected two large billboards, one in Dundalk and one in Drogheda, with the message 'Your story isn't over: give it until tomorrow' and details of how to contact their services. Mark himself knows how suicide may seem as a solution to people who are in a dark place. In 2015, with a failed business and bailiffs taking away his son's xBox, he ended up 'in the tide at Annagassan with a bellyful of whiskey'. 'Little did I know that the tide was going out so I ended up in the muck and clamoured back up the rocks and went home.' 'I wish that this organisation that we have now was there ten years ago,' he says of SAFE Castlebellingham. Mark has turned his life around and he and a group of other locals in the mid-Louth area want others who are despairing to be able to do the same. 'We have erected the posters at Hill Street Bridge in Dundalk and at at Georges Square in Drogheda where Lower Mell meets the Bridge Of Peace, as well as digital signs at Junction 20 on the motorway and at Ballymascanlon and across from the Louth County Hospital, sponsored by the Byrne family and Niall Clarke Oils.' The message is simple – if people reach out to them and other support services such as SOSAD and Pieta, they will be listened to. 'We are not blaming anyone. We believe we are a positive story. We're a group of concerned citizens sitting in a room and saying we have this problem and what can we do to solve it.' 'We decided to so something to stop the devastation caused by suicide in the county.' SAFE Castlebellingham offers a confidential helpline that people can ring. 'It can be the person themselves or their family, their friends, their mates, their Mum, Dad, brother, sister, son, daughter. They can ring and say they are worried about someone who is in a bad place and we can tell them how to support that person. We will provide that counselling and we will pay for it.' The helpline is open from 8am to 8pm seven days a week and staffed by volunteers who are specially trained to deal with people with suicidal inclination. 'We don't miss calls and we talk to people in a sympathetic and empathetic way and tell them what we can do to help them. We have three qualified counsellors on our panel who can provide support until they access other services. What we are doing is providing a buffer to make sure that people aren't lost. Suicide doesn't do appointments and when people are in a bad place, we are ready and will to help people. We give them the space to hold on. We want them to take a breath, to step back and le t people help them.' 'We want people to get help, to reach out so that we can help them when they need support and not next week.' People who are contemplating suicide do so out of desperation as they feel that the pain of carrying on living is too great, he says. There can be signs that they are contemplating taking their own lives. 'Sometimes people will joke that things would be better if they weren't there. They might give away belongings, their record collection, jewellery or other things that were precious to them. And they might seem to be in good form but the reality is that they have made a plan to end their lives and as they see it their problems.' Mark urges people to reach out to their loved ones and to ask if they are okay. The stark reality is that men of all ages are more at risk of dying from suicide than women. '75pc of suicides are male, ' says Mark. 'Three times as many women will attempt suicide but only 25pc will complete it.' He believes that it's women's ability to talk and share problems with friends that help them, while men are much less likely to talk about their problems. In a bid to reach out to men, SAFE Castlebellingham are rolling out a number of initiatives to engage with men of all ages. They have linked up with Jenny Coyle Meehan to provide YOGA for men, with a class this Thursday July 24 in at Muirhevnamor Community Centre in Dundalk, with booking at 087 186 5959. There are also plans to host events in settings where they can reach out to farmers who are a vulnerable group. In Dundalk, Maxi's Law is another group born out of tragedy – in this case the death of the hugely popular and well-known character Maxi Mark Kavanagh. The group are calling for a change in the legislation so that anyone who presents seeking treatment for mental health issues at a HSE facility receives immediate support, and that if this can't be provided in the public system, that the state should cover the cost of treatment in the private system. 'This is about ensuring that no one is left waiting simply because they can't pay. It's a fight for equality and fair access to mental health services for all.' They are now calling on the public to email their elected TD's urging them to support their demands.
The Irish Sun
19-07-2025
- The Irish Sun
How British children are MORE at risk from killer diseases than African nations we send £5bn foreign aid to
BRITISH children are more at risk from killer diseases than some poverty-stricken countries receiving taxpayer cash towards vaccine rollouts, The Sun on Sunday can reveal. NHS figures show that uptake here for the MMR jab, which protects against measles, mumps and rubella, has hit rock bottom. Advertisement 4 Uptake in Britain for the MMR jab has hit rock bottom Credit: Getty 4 In Hackney, East London, just 67.7 per cent have had their first shot of the measles vaccine by the age of two Credit: Darren Fletcher 4 The East African country of Eritrea boasts a 93 per cent rate for the first jab Credit: Getty In In the worst area, Hackney, East London, just 67.7 per cent have had their first shot by the age of two. Advertisement But official data for the East African country of Eritrea boasts a 93 per cent rate for the first jab. Dr Ben Kasstan-Dabush, of the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, said: 'The fact very poor African countries have significantly better childhood vaccination rates than the UK should be a wake-up call to the Government. 'To reverse this deadly UK trend, we need to design public health messages with affected communities to convey that measles is dangerous — not benign. Conspiracy theories 'We need catch-up campaigns and tailored outreach in hard-hit areas and under-vaccinated communities. And we need ongoing efforts to debunk misinformation.' Eritrea's measles and rubella jab rollout has been helped by more than £5billion in UK aid to Gavi, the global vaccine fund backed by tech billionaire Bill Gates, since it was founded in 2000. Advertisement In 2023 and 2024 Gavi spent £1million on a vaccination drive in Eritrea, where human rights abuses are such that Eritreans were the most common nationality crossing the Channel in small boats during the first three months of 2025. Rwanda, which received close to £1.5million from Gavi for its measles jabs rollout in 2024, has 93 per cent of children fully protected. And Kenya, which is to receive £9.4million from by 2026, has an 88 per cent rate for first doses. This month, the Foreign Office announced a further £1.25billion commitment to the Geneva-based organisation, which has given vaccines to more than a billion children in developing countries. Ireland's Chief Medical Officer urges MMR vaccine uptake after measles death Our revelations come as a measles epidemic spreads across the country. Last month a child died in Liverpool's Alder Hey Children's Hospital after becoming ill with measles and other health problems. Jonathan Grigg, professor of paediatric respiratory and environmental medicine at Queen Mary University, London, says the NHS needs to boost its vaccinations. Advertisement He said: 'It must be up to our health system to ensure all children are vaccinated against measles and to prevent deaths. Something has gone wrong where community vaccination rates are so low.' But experts said that one of the biggest issues is anti-vaccine conspiracy theories spreading across the internet. Professor Stephen Griffin, a virologist at the University of Leeds, said: 'There is a sinister, well-funded network of people spreading disinformation that exacerbates hesitancy and plays on insecurities. 'It is vital that we counter these movements with education about the risks of infectious disease.' Measles coverage in the UK is at a ten-year low and health chiefs are scrambling to catch up as cases rise. In 2024 there were 2,911 confirmed cases in Advertisement 4 Mum Kayla and her partner Craig, with one of their children Credit: supplied It led to the UK Health Security Agency declaring a national incident. The lowest vaccination coverage rates of five-year-olds who have had both MMR doses were found in London, with the borough of Hackney the worst at 60.8 per cent. In Manchester, the rate was 74.6 per cent, Birmingham had 74.8 per cent and Newcastle 85.2 per cent. The long-discredited link between the MMR vaccine and autism, first sparked by disgraced physician Andrew Wakefield in 1998, was once to blame for people turning away from the jabs. Then pandemic disruption, a lack of access to services and difficulty booking appointments, along with language and cultural barriers, became the problem. Advertisement Now it is social media. Helen Bedford, professor of child public health at Great Ormond Street Institute of Child Health, said parents want questions answered about the vaccine but don't know who to ask. She said: 'In the absence of an obvious source they look on social media. Although there are some good sources of information, there is a great deal of misinformation, some of which has been put there with the intention of misinforming.' I am not a negligent parent and blaming mums like me for the rise in measles outbreaks is simply stupid scaremongering. Anti-vaxxer Biba Tayna Thousands of TikTok clips and Facebook groups share bogus claims about the MMR vaccine, branding it 'unsafe' and 'ineffective' and saying doctors try to vaccinate children to make money. One viral Instagram video, which racked up more than 70,000 likes, claimed kids should be given vitamin A instead — despite high doses potentially being fatal. Mum-of-six Kayla Goodearl was horrified when two of her children, Esmae and Ronnie, broke out in 'angry red spots'. The 35-year-old from Strood, Kent, said: 'Ronnie was only nine months when he got it so he was too young for the jab. Advertisement 'Esmae, who is 11 months older, was on the waiting list. My older children had been vaccinated and were OK. But Ronnie and Esmae were very poorly. Some nights their temperatures skyrocketed. I was worried they'd have seizures. 'Measles outbreaks are on the rise — and it's down to unvaccinated children and their selfish parents. Unvaccinated kids are a danger to other kids.' But anti-vaxxer Biba Tayna, 44, from Clitheroe, Lancs, has refused the MMR jab for her two youngest children because she says her eldest son, now 20, had a bad reaction. She said: 'I won't let my daughters have the jab. They've had rashes and coughs combined with high temperatures. It likely was measles but I didn't take them to a doctor for diagnosis. 'They have their own natural immunity. I am not a negligent parent and blaming mums like me for the rise in measles outbreaks is simply stupid scaremongering. Advertisement 'My unvaccinated daughters are proof I am correct.' But Health Minister Ashley Dalton said the 'falling vaccination rate' is putting 'extra strain on our NHS' and added: 'It's vital that parents get their children jabbed. 'The NHS app makes it easier for people to understand which vaccines they need and book an appointment for themselves or their children.'
Irish Independent
11-07-2025
- Irish Independent
Urgent call for blood donors this summer
The shortage has raised concerns at local hospitals including Our Lady of Lourdes in Drogheda and Louth County Hospital in Dundalk, where pressure is mounting ahead of the busy autumn period. The IBTS has warned that unless the national stock is replenished quickly, non-urgent surgeries could be postponed. Director of Donor Services at the IBTS, Paul McKinney, said the service needs an additional 2,000 donations over the next month to stabilise the supply. He pointed to summer holidays, heatwaves, and reduced donor clinic attendance as key factors behind the current dip. McKinney also encouraged more donors from diverse backgrounds to come forward, particularly individuals of African heritage, whose donations are essential for treating conditions like sickle-cell disease. In Louth, there is a long-standing tradition of blood donation, and one local man, Brendan Kelly from Dundalk, was recently honoured for his contribution. A painter and decorator by trade, Mr Kelly has donated blood over 100 times and was awarded the Porcelain Pelican Award earlier this year at the North-East Donor Awards in Navan. 'I donate because I can,' he said. 'If just one pint helps someone in need, then it's worth it.' The IBTS is encouraging people from all parts of the county to attend their nearest clinic, with appointments available throughout July and August. Donors must be aged between 18 and 64, weigh over 50kg, and meet standard health requirements. The process typically takes under an hour, and each donation can help save up to three lives. Local organisers and health officials are urging first-time donors to step up and regular donors to continue giving through the summer months. With blood stocks at dangerously low levels, the message is simple: Louth needs donors now more than ever.
