Ireland's venture capital market recorded its most valuable quarter in recent memory, drawing in €296 million across just twenty deals — a figure that speaks less to a rising tide than to a gathering of rivers into a few deep channels. Three companies working at the intersection of artificial intelligence and practical industry problems captured nearly two-thirds of that capital, reflecting a broader global shift in which investors are placing fewer, larger, and more deliberate bets on proven late-stage ventures. The surge invites both celebration and scrutiny: beneath the headline lies a more