New drone restrictions come into force over Cork city

New restrictions on drones in Cork city will prevent their use in time-sensitive emergencies, operators say.

The airspace restrictions, which came in to effect this week, are being introduced by the Irish Aviation Authority (IAA) to prevent drones being flown over large parts of the city without two days’ notice.

Christy O’Donovan of Cork City Missing Persons Search and Recovery said: “We rely very heavily on drones for our operations. We use drones now in every single search mission that we conduct. 

"They have been a game-changer for us. What used to take us an hour and a half searching on the ground can now be cleared in just over two minutes using a drone.”

Mr O’Donovan said the drones were critical for searching large green areas, and rivers, especially at night. 

“From a health and safety perspective, drones do wonders. Instead of sending our volunteers out in risky conditions, the drones can do it, instead. This all comes down to timing. When we get a call, we act immediately. We cannot wait around. The sooner you’re on the ground, the more likely you are to have a positive outcome.”

Under the new restrictions, the missing persons charity, along with the majority of all drone operators, will have to apply to Cork air traffic control two days before they intend to fly.

Serious impacts

“This will have serious impacts on the likes of Missing Person Search and Rescue, the coastguard, and the civil defence, just as a few examples,” said Bob Foley, director and accountable manager of Cork-based company Engineers With Drones.

Speaking to The Echo, Mr Foley said anyone flying a drone in Cork city without ATC permission next week — including photographers, young children, or recreational users — will be breaking the law.

The measures will benefit just a handful of companies that hold a beyond visual line of sight (BVLOS) licence. These licences allow a pilot to control multiple drones at once without maintaining direct visuals on them. This differs from the majority of drone users, who operate one drone at one time.

The IAA said the measures will ensure safety for BVLOS users by making sure visual line-of-sight users — the majority of drone operators — cannot fly spontaneously in the same airspace.

Expanding operations

Currently, Cork has no BVLOS operators, but the IAA expects this to change with the new measures. One licensed BVLOS operator is drone-delivery company Manna, which has expressed interest in expanding operations to Cork.

Last month, Manna’s chief technology officer, Alan Hicks, said the company hopes to operate nationwide by the end of 2026.

Another such operator is Wing, owned by Google’s parent company, Alphabet. In 2021, the drone operator ran trials to create a rapid medical delivery network in south Dublin.

Mr Foley criticised the new measures, arguing that the changes benefit only a small number of companies, while restricting essential services and recreational users.

Currently, the IAA’s measures are temporary, but the authority said it proposes to make them permanent from May, with a targeted consultation of airspace users being conducted.