Recent aerial survey has "annoyed, frightened and upset people", says Senator

Senator Eugene Murphy has told the Seanad that survey flights which have taken place recently over various parts of the midlands should not take place in the early hours of the morning.

He made specific reference to a flight which took place on Sunday 22 June that arrived over Lough Ree at 1.45am and passed over south Roscommon, including Taughmaconnell, Ballyforan, Creggs, Ballinsaloe and parts of Westmeath.

More recently, aerial surveys over parts of Westmeath and the midlands took place in the early hours of 4 November, which disrupted local residents. Another day time survey took place on 5 November. These surveys were commissioned by Bórd na Móna as part of its peatlands restoration work, and were conducted by the English aviation firm RVL Aviation.

"Online flight records show that a Cessna 404 Titan registered with RVL Aviation took off from East Midlands Airport near Derby in England at midnight on Sunday 22 June," Senator Murphy said. "It returned to East Midlands Airport at 6 a.m."

"It was previously reported that the firm had completed survey flights over parts of Westmeath in the early hours of 4 November."

"I have to say that the incident has annoyed, frightened and upset people. From my perspective, that type of manoeuvre, which upset families and livestock, should not be taking place in the middle of the night.

"An older man living across from where the aircraft passed over said he was up for most of the night and that the noise was particularly bad between 1 a.m. and 3.20 a.m."

Senator Murphy asked Leader Regina Doherty to contact the Minister for Transport and those who have responsibility for air traffic control about the issue.

"This type of manoeuvre should not be happening in the middle of the night, unless it is for an emergency or there is a situation on the River Shannon that must be dealt with," he said.

"This sort of flight in the middle of the night is totally unnecessary and it is very concerning for people when it does happen. Thankfully, it does not happen too often," he finished.

In a recent statement, Bord na Móna explained why some of the aerial surveys were conducted at night.

“This work is weather dependent and therefore some flights are taking place at night when the skies are clear. All required aviation approvals are in place for these flights.”

The firm also said that its peatland restoration work is “part of a range of major climate action measures that are being implemented by the company to help Ireland become carbon neutral by 2050”.

“Bord na Móna’s peatlands restoration operations will secure millions of tonnes of carbon in the peatlands, support employment and will greatly improve habitats for native plants and animal species across tens of thousands of hectares of our land.”