Flying and operating drones in Ireland

I obtained my drone operator’s licence this week.

On the website of the Irish Aviation Authority you must take a test comprising multiple choice questions after watching a ten minute video with some basic information about flying and operating a drone.

The whole process was less than seamless as you must first register on a site called MySRS.ie.

This site appears to be a subdomain of the Irish Aviation Authority site but curiously there is no direct link from the Drones section of the Irish Aviation Authority site to this other site. You would have thought the IAA would have made it as easy and seamless as possible for persons to take the necessary steps to apply for the licence.

Here is a link to the drones section of the IAA website. There is some useful, basic information there about the legalities of operating drones in Ireland, including a link to the relevant European legislation, the Easy Access Rules for Unmanned Aircraft Systems (Regulations (EU) 2019/947 and 2019/945).

An interesting aspect of flying and operating a drone is the data privacy implications. You may become a data controller where identifiable information is captured. This information would include visibly identifiable faces, car licence plates, etc.

The relevant EU legislation is European Union Regulation 2019/947.