Athenry News & Views Winter 2025

Winter 2025

local community, supporting neighbouring businesses and putting customers first values that have remained unchanged from day one. KBT offers an extensive range of tyres to suit every vehicle, from small cars to large industrial machines. Beyond tyres, KBT stands out with its specialist agricultural wheel division, providing custom wheel solutions, reconditioning, and manufacturing tailored to the unique needs of farmers and agri businesses. “Agriculture is a huge part of this region, and we’re proud to support local farmers with specialised wheel solutions,” Kevin explained. “We understand their needs because we’re part of this community we’re in it together.” As KBT celebrates 30 remarkable years, Kevin, Helen, and the entire team extend their heartfelt thanks to their loyal customers past and present. “We’re excited about the future,” Kevin said. “We’ll keep innovating and expanding to meet our customers’ needs but no matter what, we’ll always stay true to our local roots.” Whether you need new tyres, expert advice, or specialised agricultural wheel solutions, Kevin Burke Tyres remains your trusted, local partner now celebrating three decades of quality, reliability, and community spirit.

An AI takeover? By Marie Hanna Curran

Artificial Intelligence has been hailed a saviour and the next big thing by many, especially stock exchanges, where money has been churning like a sea embroiled in a storm, - and where US chipmaker Nvidia recently became the world’s first five trillion-dollar company -. AI can be found everywhere. It’s in our vehicles, phones, laptops, household appliances, and is creeping its way into our workforce. Many say it will change our world for the better. I’m not so sure…I mean where have we heard those words before? I’ve no doubt AI will have its place in our world; it will benefit medical research, improve the safety of our vehicles and increase efficiency in manufacturing. But is it the answer to everything? And more importantly, is it being pushed on us when we don’t want it? Take Microsoft for example, AI seeped into many of their products in late 2023, and it did so without asking the end user if they wanted it. Those of us who didn’t want it, and still don’t want it, found its icon stalking us across our screens like a foreign spy, as it slowed the speed of our laptops and impeded our tasks. Twenty-two minutes of my human-battery life were lost to outlook when its AI tool decided to interact with an e-mail I was attempting to write without the use of AI. Thankfully in 2025, Microsoft finally allowed users disable the icon (Go to file, options at the bottom of the list, copilot, disable). This very act suggests some humans still want the option to work AI free, and so the question remains, will AI take over our world? Or are we about to see one giant bubble burst?

tel: 087 132 1656 website: danceforlife.ie

Dancing Classes ‘Dance for Life’ classes are every Monday from 4:45 - 5:30pm in Athenry Community Hall. To register, please email info@danceforlife.ie