Mayo drinks company wins €25,000 at North-South Business Cooperation Awards
X-LITE Beverages has been recognised for its cross-border business operations at the awards ceremony in Co Monaghan
Mayo-based drinks company X-LITE Beverages has won a €25,000 Bronze Award at the 2026 Stelios Foundation North-South Business Cooperation Awards.
Founded by Patrick Joyce and Oliver Feeney, the company was among 11 businesses recognised for developing commercial partnerships, customers and supply chains across the island of Ireland.
The awards ceremony took place at Castle Leslie Estate in Co. Monaghan today (Wednesday, October 28), with a total of €500,000 in prize money distributed among businesses demonstrating the benefits of cross-border cooperation.
X-LITE Beverages was recognised for its cross-border operations, with businesses registered in Ireland and the UK and plans for further expansion across both markets.
The awards, now in their second year, attracted more than 90 applications from businesses across the island of Ireland. They are organised by the Stelios Foundation, founded by entrepreneur Sir Stelios Haji-Ioannou, in partnership with Co-operation Ireland.
Sir Stelios, creator and owner of the easy family of brands, including easyJet and easyHotel, presented the awards and congratulated the successful businesses on their achievements.
“It is a real pleasure to return to Ireland for the second year of these awards to celebrate another exceptional group of entrepreneurs,” he said.
He added that the winners demonstrated the potential of doing business on an all-island basis and expressed hope that their achievements would encourage other entrepreneurs to develop partnerships and explore opportunities across the island.
The awards’ overall
The €150,000 Gold Award went to Belfast-based Nomadic Watches, which sells to customers in more than 45 countries and counts Dublin retailer Weir & Sons among its stockists.
Irish agricultural technology company MartEye received one of two €100,000 Silver Awards for its digital platform connecting farmers with more than 120 livestock auction centres across Ireland and the UK.
The second Silver Award was awarded to Northern Ireland garden centre and café business Langtry Lane Ltd and Irish frozen dessert producer Dae Ice Cream, recognising their cross-border commercial partnership.
Six Bronze Awards of €25,000 each recognised businesses operating across sectors including engineering, healthcare, recycling technology, beverages, food and support services for mobile food entrepreneurs.
The awards were presented by Sir Stelios Haji-Ioannou. Further information on the awards is available at www.stelios.ie and www.stelios.foundation.