The National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) is concerned about the possibility that a second Asian hornet nest may be located in Cork.
This follows confirmation that two Asian hornets have been identified near Cobh in recent days.
The first sighting of an Asian hornet was confirmed in Cork City just over a month ago.
A team from the NPWS is now in the Cobh area, monitoring and setting up feeding stations to observe what is going on, so they can track any hornets in that location to see if they are coming from a separate nest.
There has also been a confirmed sighting of an Asian hornet in Inchicore in Dublin 8 in the past week.
However, experts from the NPWS have been able to ascertain that the creature in Inchicore is a single sterile female Asian hornet.
As a result, they are hopeful that it is a one-off sighting and will not be linked to a nest.
Minister of State for Nature, Heritage and Biodiversity Christopher O'Sullivan said he was aware of reports of further sightings of the Asian hornet.
"I'd like to reassure everyone that each of these is taken very seriously and investigated thoroughly when reported." he added.
The NPWS- led taskforce, the Asian Hornet Management Group will continue to monitor the situation in Cork through a network of traps.
First Asian hornet nest safely removed
The NPWS today completed the safe control and removal of the first Asian hornet nest from a site in Cork city.
The neutralised nest that was retrieved this morning was about the size of a large beach ball.
The nest was in a challenging position about 19 metres up a sycamore tree in the back garden of a house in the Ballintemple area of the city.
The complex procedure to neutralise the nest, which was highly active and growing, began yesterday afternoon and the nest was finally retrieved intact at just after 11.30am this morning.
It has now been transported to Dublin and handed over to scientists at the laboratory section of the National Museum of Ireland for analysis.
It will be placed in a freezer for three weeks to deal with any unexpected pathogens and then undergo scientific testing, including DNA analysis, to learn more about where the hornets may have come from and at what stage of development the colony was at.
A new 'rolling update' Asian hornet web page to provide the public with the details, sightings, and locations of Asian hornets has been launched today on the invasives.ie website.
Read more: Asian hornet nest located in Cork city following hunt
An Asian hornet is an invasive apex insect predator and poses a very significant risk to native pollinators and commercial bee hives in the area.
Studies in France where the first Asian Hornet arrived into Europe in 2004 suggest that a single nest of these creatures would consume 11 kilograms of pollinators, like bees, wasps and other insects, in a single season.
In addition to a number of NPWS conservation rangers, who led the operation, the team of professionals that tackled the nest included; a tree surgeon who also operated a cherry picker; experts from the Irish Pest Control Association who helped handling and administering the pesticide that killed the hornets; and an expert from the UK Plant and Animal Health Association who mentored and advised the team.
Minister O'Sullivan paid tribute to the team of experts involved in the removal of the nest in Cork city today, for their skill and speed in removing it safely.
He also thanked members of the public and local businesses in Cork city for their co-operation and support in quest to find the location of the nest over the past few weeks.
Áinle Ní Bhriain, Director of EU and International Affairs at NPWS said removing the nest safely was the primary objective of today's operation.
"We have learned a huge amount about effective responses from this initial phase, drawing from international best practice to track and control Asian Hornet nests. All of this is informing and strengthening our response to this Invasive Alien Species of Union concern," she said.
