An Post has made its first-ever successful parcel delivery by drone, the unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) delivering a small item from Roonagh pier in County Mayo to a customer staying on Clare Island.
The flight took place last week and was completed in an estimated 11 minutes and 30 seconds.
Ireland's state postal operator has not released an official statement on the drone delivery but in a tweet it said: “An Post has just carried out Ireland’s first ever autonomous parcel delivery from mainland to island using a drone.”
It signed off on the tweet using the hashtag #DeliveringTheFuture.
Irish media reports quoted an An Post spokesman who said the flight had been a test “and a prelude where similar flights to hard-to-reach locations are concerned.”
He underlined that such drone flights could be dependent on the weather, as with boats and helicopters and “will not replace the regular service, adding: “But it is going to be a part of the future.”
He went on to note that An Post was giving high-tech impetus to its operations having introduced “electric bikes with big containers which at present deliver from four locations in the city (Dublin).”
It had also put into service electric vans for deliveries between the capital’s canals, “keeping pace with the times, technology and reductions in the carbon footprint.”
It was likely that An Post would extend these services in the future to other urban areas in Ireland, he said.
