What is Oisín’s Campaign?

Wicklow GAA Community and the Healthy Committee, in partnership with the Irish Blood Transfusion Service (IBTS), warmly invites every GAA member from everyone of our 36 clubs to attend the Wicklow launch of

Oisín’s Campaign – “Every Drop Counts, I Know.”

Named in honour of Oisín Kelly, a member of Naomh Eoin GAA in Carlow. Oisín was diagnosed with Osteosarcoma (bone cancer) in 2021 and, after a lengthy battle, sadly passed away in August 2023.

Throughout his illness, Oisín received many blood and platelet transfusions. Oisín and his family learned that many cancer patients require blood and platelet transfusions as a vital part of their treatment — as it was for Oisín. Oisín was passionate about raising awareness of the importance of blood donation, particularly among young people, and this campaign continues that legacy.

This event aims to highlight the life-saving importance of blood donation and to encourage Gaelic Games members across Wicklow to support the Irish Blood Transfusion Service by promoting donor registration and clinic attendance within our clubs.

One of the speakers on the night will be our own former Wicklow County Footballer John McGrath. As many of you know John is himself a cancer survivor. John will be talking about his own experience of cancer treatment and how life saving blood donating is.

For our Clubs in attendance we will include details on how you can obtain Oisín’s Campaign – Club Support Packs. The Club support packs include editable social media templates, flyers and posters.

We particularly encourage clubs to bring young adult members (18–30 age group) to this event. Building a strong base of young blood donors is essential to maintaining a safe and reliable blood supply for the future, and the GAA community can play an important leadership role in this effort.

For example did you know?

- 1 in 4 people need blood.
- 67% of donated blood is used to treat cancer patients & people with blood disorders.
- Only 3% of the eligible population donates blood.
- The average age of a blood donor in Ireland is 46.

“GAA clubs are absolutely perfect for it”

says Brendan Kelly, Oisín father. “There’s not many things in life where there isn’t a trade off, there isn’t a cost. It’s free and your body automatically regenerates blood so it’s not like you’re losing a toe or a kidney or anything”.