Paul Brennan of SkyFly Photography, tried out the drone on his brother Declan's farm last week. Since Declan had got his lambing out of the way in January, about 100 ewes had to be rounded up and brought through the gap in the hedge.

Paul said the whole process took about four minutes. "Obviously the video is sped up, it lasts about one minute on the video but it took about four minutes for the drone to get the sheep through the gap."

The drone, which Paul controls from the ground using a remote, cost the farmer €2000. Since a young well-trained sheepdog costs between €2000 and €2,500 according to recent media reports, the difference in cost between the two at point of sale is marginal.

Furthermore, the drone didn't manage to beat Shep the sheepdog's personal best of four minutes.

"Shep won't be out of a job just yet," Paul joked.

Watch the sped-up video of Shep the drone below