HEAVY METAL BAND Metallica donated €80,000, split between two charities, while they were in Dublin last week.

The US band played two gigs in the Aviva Stadium in Dublin on 19 and 21 June as part of its M72 world tour. The gigs were their first in Ireland since 2019.

While in town, the band embarked on some charitable ventures: it partnered up with the Irish Blood Transfusion Service to promote a blood drive (fans got free special edition t-shirts for donating blood), and also donated €40,000 to homeless charity the Dublin Simon Community, and another €40,000 to Women’s Aid.

The blood drive and charitable donations were run and made by Metallica’s nonprofit, All Within My Hands (AWMH). The nonprofit has donated more than $25 million (€21.93 million) since it was founded in 2017.

AWMH shared news of the donations, saying, “the opportunity to give back was meaningful”.

It highlighted the Dublin Simon Community’s longstanding soup run, which has been operating since 1969.

“Our €40K grant will ensure their frontline staff can continue to operate on the ground and support our community directly 24/7, 365 days a year,” it said.

Women’s Aid will use its grant for its national free-phone helpline, its high-risk support project, and its emergency fund, AWMH said.