19/06/2026
Statement: Manna drone delivery suspension is a victory for communities over big tech
The announcement today by Manna that it intends to suspend its fast food drone operations is a victory for community campaigns over big tech. This announcement shows that new technologies that are worsening people’s lives for corporate profits don’t have to be accepted as inevitable. People power has won out over a multi-million dollar corporation and the effective privatisation of the skies.
Commercial drone deliveries of coffee and takeaways have caused huge noise problems in residential areas, as well as loss of privacy, wildlife concerns and job losses. Residents were forced last year to get organised in campaigns – such as Drone Action D15 and campaigns in Cork – to challenge this company, which had no consultation with communities before unleashing its highly invasive technology and which operated out of many unauthorised bases. It seems the normal planning rules didn’t apply to Manna, which was allowed free rein for over a year in Dublin 15, its first pilot area.
TDs, the local authorities, the Irish Aviation Authority all shrugged their shoulders. Residents who didn’t want noisy drones hovering over their home or garden were portrayed as luddites. The message of tech inevitability was sent out. Enterprise Ireland gave Manna grants, and the media wrote puff pieces about this ‘plucky start-up’.
Meanwhile, residents had to put up with a real erosion of their quality of life so a coffee or burger could be delivered aerially, rather than by delivery riders on electric bikes.
It was only when residents came together and organised campaigns that things began to change. In Dublin, a meeting I held in Dublin 15 last summer led to residents establishing their own campaign group, . A newsletter produced and distributed over the summer got massive reaction, leading to hundreds of residents requesting Manna ‘no fly zones’ over their homes.
Read the full statement at solidarity.ie
