I am making inquiries with Irish Rail about this.
Incidentally the EU courts have ruled
http://curia.europa.eu/juris/documen...t=1&cid=672652
"Article 17 of Regulation No 1371/2007 is to be interpreted as meaning that a railway undertaking may not exclude its obligation under that provision to pay compensation of the ticket price in cases of force majeure."
So no way out for Irish Rail