Independent · Ireland and Europe
Drone operations that deliver results.
Drone Space supports Irish public bodies, local authorities and clients directly through professional services — shaping drone policy, implementing compliance, conducting basic and complex operations, developing internal UAV strategies, and providing training to the highest standard.
Elevated Thinking — Drones for a Changing Ireland · Friday 9 October 2026 · IADT Dún Laoghaire
Programme and tickets →What we do
Four things, done properly.
Flying is the easy part. Successfully engaging an audit, a tender or an incident is the baseline. Professionalism, safety and results are the goal.
Consulting
Drone policy, operational guidelines, safety cases and procurement support for organisations who need to stand over their decisions — to a regulator, an insurer or a tender panel. Plan for and futureproof your organisation.
How we adviseTraining
One intensive Basics day. Your whole team, legally compliant — airspace, aircraft selection, insurance, legislation and hands-on flying. Delivered nationwide, with co-funding available. Advanced training, licensing, mapping and 3D modelling options available.
Courses and pricesOperations
Specific sites and adverse locations demand advanced skills, aircraft, licensing and expert input. Complex and confined operations, survey and mapping, and counter-UAS advisory where the risk is your responsibility.
Complex operationsCompliance
Where do you stand under EU regulations? What matters for your organisation, what certification and licensing you need, and how you stay compliant as the rules evolve and encompass greater risk.
Where you standWhy it matters
In Irish aviation, the paperwork is as important as safe flying.
Most organisations assume their drone risk sits with the pilot. It does not. Under Article 14(2)(e) of EU Regulation 2019/947, read with section 74(1) of the Irish Aviation Authority Act 1993, the operator — the organisation — and the remote pilot are both deemed to have responsibility.
And the Irish Aviation Authority is not the only regulator watching. The Data Protection Commission has already found an Irish local authority in breach over its drone use — not for how it flew, but for having no drones policy governing it.
Enforcement
This is no longer theoretical.
Three recent Irish cases, all a matter of public record. Read together they show where the regulator is observing — and that the organisation is as culpable as the pilot.
- A construction firm, near Dublin Airport — November 2025 Drones operated by Wills Bros Ltd during construction work at Finglas were picked up by Dublin Airport’s Dedrone detection system, inside the Dublin Red Zone and less than 2km from the airport perimeter. There was no operational authorisation and no UAS operator registration. Three pilots were involved. The IAA did not prosecute — it engaged directly to bring the company into compliance, the pilots completed the required training, and internal procedures were put in place.
- A drone pilot, prosecuted — January 2026 The IAA secured a prosecution over flights at three locations: inside prohibited airspace without authorisation, at heights that put manned aircraft at risk, and beyond visual line of sight. The defendant pleaded guilty; the court directed a charitable payment, after which the charges were struck out.
- An operator who ignored a direction — March 2026 A District Court prosecution for impeding an IAA investigation and for continuing to fly in breach of a formal direction not to. A guilty plea, a €400 charitable donation and €750 towards the IAA’s costs. Non-cooperation is itself an offence.
Under section 74 of the Irish Aviation Authority Act 1993, as applied by S.I. No. 24 of 2023, the statutory maxima are €5,000 and six months on summary conviction and €500,000 and three years on indictment. Nothing near those figures has been imposed. The commercial damage is not the fine — it is the incident report, the insurer’s next question and the tender you cannot answer.
Irish Aviation Authority media statements, 4 November 2025 and 27 January 2026; reported District Court proceedings, March 2026. Statutory maxima per Irish Aviation Authority Act 1993, section 74, as applied by S.I. No. 24 of 2023.
Who we work with
Built for institutional buyers.
Drone Space has supported national public bodies, local authorities and private clients across Ireland and Europe. We do not name clients publicly.
National public bodies
State agencies and government departments adopting drone capability, improving output and assuring operations they already conduct.
Local authorities
Councils facing growing obligations under Ireland’s National Policy Framework for UAS — geographical zones, planning, and privacy, security and environmental concerns.
Contractors and engineering
Tier-1 contractors and consultancies that need guidance capable of satisfying a procurement process.
Critical infrastructure & complex operations
Specific sites and adverse locations often require advanced skills, aircraft, licensing and expert input. We provide all of it.
Procuring drone services? Let us support you in running the workshops, assessing the requirement, identifying the key personnel and building a roadmap for your organisation.
Tell us what you’re trying to do.
Most enquiries start with an organisation that already owns drones and isn’t certain where it stands. That is a good place to start. Tell us the situation and we will tell you what it actually requires — before anyone discusses a proposal.
Who you’re dealing with
Ian Kiely
Founder
Founder of Drone Space and IAA-licensed since 2015. A member of the National Aviation Stakeholders Forum and of the IAA’s UAS Stakeholders Forum, co-author of three volumes of the Drone Professional series, and a contributor to European Space Agency and EUSPA programmes. He founded Ireland’s first Drone Expo at the RDS in 2016 and won the European Satellite Navigation Competition — the Galileo Masters — in Marseille in 2018.
Joe O’Flynn
Drone Space
Joe is a Risk and Security specialist with over 30 years of experience across national, international, and maritime security environments. Throughout his career, he has gained extensive operational experience in the use of, and defence against, a wide range of aerial platforms and associated technologies.
Building on this experience, Joe completed qualifications in drone and related technologies, giving him a strong understanding of the operational, security, and risk considerations surrounding unmanned aerial systems. He also holds a Master’s degree in Security and Risk Management.
Joe brings together decades of practical security experience with specialist knowledge of emerging drone technologies and their evolving applications, risks, and opportunities.
Drone Space works with a network of contracted specialists and partner companies rather than as a single operator — which is how we cover the country and bring in specialist skills when an engagement requires it.