Tipperary ecovillage receives Ireland’s Greenest Village award at Dublin event

Representatives of the Cloughjordan Community Development Association, which earlier this month was crowned Ireland’s Greenest Village 2026, have been presented with their award at an event in Dublin.

At the awards the judges described the Association as “as an extremely dedicated group of volunteers who have positively impacted their environment and community”.

This is the second year of ‘Ireland’s Greenest Places 2026’, an initiative run by The Irish Times in association with Electric Ireland whereby members of the public are invited to nominate a special place or project which they believe contributes to a genuinely greener environment.

There were close to a hundred entries this year, and each place was judged on specific criteria including its beneficial environmental impact, level of ongoing collective engagement by the community and evidence of behavioural change by people.

Several members of the CCDA, including Gearóid Ó’Foighil, travelled to Dublin to accept the Ireland’s Greenest Village award on behalf of Cloughjordan.

Mr Ó’Foighil, describes the Association as “the social and community development vehicle for Cloughjordan” which oversees the village’s collaboration with heritage and Tidy Towns groups as well as Coillte and the National Parks & Wildlife Service.

Sustainability consultant and judge Shannen Fenton described the CCDA as an extremely dedicated group of volunteers who have positively impacted their environment and community.

“We were extremely impressed with their previous work in the nearby Scohaboy Bog Special Area of Conservation. Along with rewetting and nurturing the bog, they have added boardwalks and made the area accessible to the community to enjoy. I can’t wait to see what the group achieve in the coming years, it was pleasure to speak to the group and feel their passion for the environment and giving back to the community.”

Jillian Saunders, group sponsorship and PR manager at the ESB, said the energy provider was pleased to be involved with Ireland’s Greenest Places for a second year, and thanked the winners for attending the ceremony and sharing their stories.

For more information about ‘Ireland’s Greenest Places’ go to www.irishtimes.com/greenestplaces