Behind the shop fronts and houses that line the main street of Cloughjordan in Tipperary lies Ireland’s only ecovillage. Fifty five carbon-friendly houses, a biodiversity garden and a “community-assisted” farm span a 67-acre site, invisible from the road front. Turning right after the Post Office, a pathway leads into the village where plots of land with just their foundations stagger their way down a slope and towards a 32-bed hostel. The gardens and farm lay further on. The empty sites are a stark reminder of the challenges the village has faced in its short history – mostly brought about by…