PICTURES: Families and transplant recipients gather for annual service to honour organ donors

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An estimated 1,600 people from across Ireland and beyond, including hundreds of families of deceased donors and transplant recipients, converged in the Church of the Holy Child, Whitehall, Dublin 9, on Saturday, October 12 for the Irish Kidney Association 39th Annual Service of Remembrance & Thanksgiving.

This unique Service is an important occasion for remembering deceased loved ones who have in their death given the gift of life to others.

It's an opportunity for grateful transplant recipients, their families and the wider organ donation and transplant community including Organ Donation Transplant Ireland, organ donor coordinators and transplant coordinators, and other healthcare professionals, to give thanks and pay tribute to organ donors for their precious gifts of life.

With leaders from the Catholic Church, Church of Ireland, and the Islamic faith in Ireland, along with Humanist involvement, the Service brings together people of all beliefs, united in their support for organ donation as the ultimate act of humanity.

It transcends individual spiritual beliefs, fostering a sense of shared community and mutual support in honouring the life-giving gift of organ donation.

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During the Service music and song by the Whitehall Church Choir under the direction of Kathryn Browne, was interspersed between poignant symbolic processions and meaningful scripture, and reflections of gratitude underpinning selflessness and faith in humanity.

Following the Service, organ donor families viewed the name of their deceased donor loved one inscribed in the Book of Remembrance, a roll of honour for organ donors.

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