O’Connell founded West Cork Distillers with friends Ger and Denis McCarthy in 2008

Profiles of four of the eight nominees in the industry category

Tech and life sciences businesses well represented in addition to traditional players

Independent sector faces more competition from imports, bigger breweries

Hijos de Rivera, which has stake in Irish brewer, is collaborating on new Celtic beer

Caveat: Conor McGregor is finding out that he can’t just punch his way to commercial success but his footwork may yet pay off

MMA fighter involved in trademark battles with German, Dutch, English and US brands

Founder of Carlow Brewing Company owns trademark for “Notorious”

O’Hara becomes a brewer/publican with launch of Urban Brewing docklands venue

Rows threatens his ability to market products using certain brands linked to his name

No financial details disclosed for investment by Galician company Hijos de Rivera

Craft beer producer, which trades as O’Hara’s Brewery, makes core deal

Number of microbreweries in Ireland has also jumped, new report shows

Founder of Carlow Brewing Company sees potential for further significant growth