The Irish Aviation Authority has apologised after a data breach on its drone register.

Registered owners were allowed to access the names and contact details of all other drone pilots as a result of an error.

The Authority says no financial or personal information was available and the system was fixed within two hours.

It also says they were not hacked and no unauthorised access was gained by the general public. 

They were notified of the problem at 23:00 on Sunday and the IAA worked with its supplier, CGH Technologies, to have the system taken offline, fixed, tested and restored.

They are calling on drone owners who unintentionally accessed the information, to destroy any material they may have downloaded.

The IAA says its grateful to members of the public who notified them about the and for their co-operation.