You can drive from Cork to Newlands Cross in about 2h30m keeing to the speed limit, but you may be *******ed and in dire need of a pitstop if you attempt it non-stop. Then there's the little problem of getting to Dublin city centre and parking, etc...Comfort and customer service are the potential aces which Irish Rail has: but that's where I expect them to underperform.
As for the station dwell times on the Waterford line, that's a pretty inevitable consequence of having to cross trains on a mainly single track route. Time was when Waterford line trains had only one crossing: now they have two (or more?), because of a big increase in frequency. And the Waterford line times are better now than 3 or 4 years ago, unlike the Cork line.
Theoretically Waterford-Dublin could be done in 105 to 110 minutes: but this would allow for very little recovery from unfoseeable delays, and the market for a non-stop service would be somewhat limited.
As for the fall in business being due to the M9, there is also the little matter of a severe recession, which reduced intercity numbers before the main motorways were completed. Anyhow look on the bright side: the rise in petrol prices might tempt people back onto the rails.
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