Drone aerial delivery operator Manna has announced it is ceasing delivery operations in Ireland to concentrate its growth on the US, UK and other international markets.
In a statement released this afternoon, the company said “the lack of a clear national framework has left the sector reliant on local planning processes and created uncertainty around the infrastructure required to support drone delivery at scale”.
It said the US, UK, China and the UAE are “demonstrating rapid regulatory progress and strong commercial momentum”.
“As a result, Manna has decided to concentrate its investment, talent and operational resources in markets where large-scale drone delivery is now a reality,” the firm said.
The announcement comes after Manna’s plans for a drone aerial delivery hub in Dundrum, Dublin, were refused yesterday.
Dรบn Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council refused planning permission to Manna Drones Ltd for its planned hub on lands to the rear of Holy Cross Church in Dundrum.
The proposal faced local opposition, including one objection from Monsignor Paul Callan from Holy Cross Church And Pastoral Centre in Dundrum which stated that “the prospect of a drone take-off during mass is simply unprecedented and disrespectful”.
Manna said today’s announcement also means that a “planned expansion and future employment growth at local operational delivery hubs in Ireland will not proceed at this time”.
Watch: ‘Peace and quiet’ after drone company ceases Irish deliveries
“This decision does not affect Manna’s continued investment in Ireland, which will remain the company’s primary base for research and development, engineering, robotics, regulatory affairs, customer operations and corporate functions.”
Following the announcement the Irish Aviation Authority said the country’s policy framework for drones, launched last August, aims to support the growth of Ireland’s drone sector “while ensuring operations are “safe, secure, and considerate of environmental and social impacts”.
The plan, it said, focuses on the three key areas of airspace use and planning, compliance and enforcement, and enterprise and innovation.
Manna employs nearly 200 people in Ireland.
The company has completed more than 300,000 drone deliveries and partnered with over 120 Irish businesses since it was founded in 2019.
Manna stressed that today’s decision “represents a strategic pause rather than a permanent withdrawal of delivery operations from Ireland”.
“Should an appropriate national policy framework be established, Manna would welcome the opportunity to resume delivery operations in Ireland,” said the statement.
“This is a difficult decision because Ireland is where Manna was founded, built and first proven,” said Bobby Healy, founder and CEO of Manna.
“We are incredibly grateful to the communities, businesses, customers and employees who helped show that drone delivery can work at scale.
“However, in the absence of a clear national pathway to scale commercial drone delivery, we have to focus our investment in markets where that pathway is now clear.”
Back gardens ‘enjoyable to sit in again’
The move has been welcomed by the chair of the Drone Action D15 group, Coolmine resident Seamus Doyle, after concerns were expressed about the noise made by the deliveries.
“Our back gardens will be enjoyable to sit out in once again,” he said, adding that the deliveries could really pick up at a time residents were trying to enjoy the peace and quiet at weekends.
“What tends to happen is that in good weather, at the weekends, the skies get very, very busy with these drones. They sound like a lawnmower going over there. The decibel level is kind of huge really, compared to anything else you would hear in your back garden.”
Don’t worry everyone. We will be back. We just need some clarity around policy and planning to proceed.
In the meantime, we continue to grow our R&D and manufacturing teams in Ireland and continue to lead the world in drone delivery technology. https://t.co/MMrjGhjwFH
โ ๐ฝ๐ค๐๐๐ฎ ๐๐๐๐ก๐ฎ (@realBobbyHealy) June 19, 2026
He said deliveries could take several minutes and he was looking forward to the return of peace and quiet.
In a statement on social media, Mr Healy said the UK was ploughing ahead in the drone delivery world and Manna was proud to be one of the first companies to begin operations there. He said companies from China and Amazon were also likely to begin operating soon and that Ireland could lose out.
But he added: “Don’t worry everyone. We will be back. We just need some clarity around policy and planning to proceed. In the meantime, we continue to grow our R&D and manufacturing teams in Ireland and continue to lead the world in drone delivery technology.
Solidarity TD for Dublin West Ruth Coppinger said today’s announcement was a “victory for community campaigns over big tech.”
She said new technologies were worsening people’s lives with deliveries of coffee and take outs causing huge noise problems in the area along with wildlife concerns, loss of privacy and job losses for delivery people.
However Manna has said its services can help local businesses by improving access to essential goods and serives, whilst reducing congestion and emissions.
Manna says it is now consulting with the Government and the Irish Aviation Authority.
Minister for Transport Darragh O’Brien today met with representatives from Manna.
In a statement, he welcomed the company’s continuing commitment to operating significant research and development and manufacturing bases in Ireland where they will test, design and build drones.
He said Irish bases would be central to the company’s strategy to pursue international opportunities.
He said high-level strategic planning and development of the drone sector in Ireland was set out in the National Policy Framework for Unmanned Aircraft Systems published last August.
The strategy aims to support growth and innovation whilst ensuring safe and secure operations and managing environmental and other concerns.
He said planning permissions were a matter for statutorily independent planning authorities.
