Thaumetopoea processionea, better known as the oak processionary moth, is indeed an unwelcome species, covered in tiny hairs that can cause skin rash, conjunctivitis and respiratory problems.
Even before any dramatic rise in temperatures, the emperor dragonfly, originally from African and Mediterranean areas, and the false widow spider, which spread to the UK from the Canary Islands, established themselves here. Prof Frances Lucy, an expert on the subject at Atlantic Technological University Sligo, agrees that it is a matter of time before something arrives to threaten food crops. In the past, she says, many species may not have survived in Ireland due to cool conditions.
Such controls would not stop everything. At the University of Galway’s School of Natural Sciences, Dr Liam Morrison and Dr Ricardo Bermejo are studying the spread of invasive seaweeds in Irish coastal waters and estuaries in the context of climate change.