‘Lab rats are biting back’: Cork City residents gather to oppose Manna Drone Deliveries 

The meeting heard a claim that the people of Blackrock and the surrounding areas

Councillors Peter Horgan, Terry Shannon, Kieran McCarthy, and Mary Rose Desmond, at the public meeting regarding delivery drones. Picture: Jim Coughlan

A public meeting of more than 200 people has heard strong opposition to commercial drone deliveries in Cork City, with speakers voicing serious concerns about noise pollution and a lack of legislation around the technology.

The meeting, held in Cork Constitution FC, heard a claim that the people of Blackrock and the surrounding areas are being used as lab rats in the nationwide introduction of drone deliveries, “but the lab rats are biting back”.

Manna Drone Deliveries began a pilot scheme in Cork in February, covering the southside of the city from a base at the Marina Market on Centre Park Rd.

Last month, Cork City Council’s planning directorate opened an enforcement file on Manna’s operations, giving the company one month to respond to a warning letter relating to Manna’s development of a drone delivery hub and its erection of a cabin and fencing at the site.

However, while local authorities are responsible for zoning, land use, and planning matters on the ground, the Irish Aviation Authority (IAA) is the regulatory body for airspace.

Last week, the IAA dropped controversial rules introduced in February to facilitate Manna. Under those measures, other drone operators flying within visual line of sight had to provide two days’ notice before flying over much of the city.

Earlier this week, Taoiseach Micheál Martin, whose home is in the area, said there was a need for greater regulation around the use of drone technology, noting “a gap between the aviation authority’s role and that of local authority planning functions”.

Tuesday night’s meeting heard several local residents talk about multiple drones passing over the homes each day, in some cases hovering over their gardens.

One woman spoke of resting in her garden “on a beautiful, sunny afternoon”.

“Then I heard this loud, insistent noise and right above me was a drone, sitting and hovering right above me for a full minute,” she said.

Tina McAree, from Blackrock, at the meeting. Picture: Jim Coughlan

Even after the drone moved away, she said, she was anxious about when the next delivery might come.

“ Star Trek was never my utopia; community, nature, and animals are,” she added.

One person attending the meeting received a sustained round of applause when they called for a boycott of participating businesses.

Five members of Cork City Council attended the meeting, saying they would urge their Oireachtas colleagues to address the gap in legislation around drones.

John Buckley, one of the organisers of the event, told the Irish Examiner that, following the meeting, 111 fresh submissions were made to Cork City Council objecting to Manna developing a delivery hub at the Marina Market.

Asked for a comment on the planning status of its Marina Market depot, a spokesperson for Manna said: “We have responded to Cork City Council and will continue engaging with officials.”

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