Last thing you want is a criminal conviction which is what you could get if you end up in court. That would mean you could have trouble gaining entry to the US.
The law as it applies has been on the books since the 1880's, the 1984 definition gave the escape clause on sensible grounds. In 2006 SI 576 was inacted under the rail safety act which is more or less the same, it gives no new powers to staff or does it add anything in terms of the offence, it does however explain the penalty fare thing. Since this went in Irish Rail have become a lot more aggressive despite the fact they always had the power to take action against fare evaders.
The law is clear if the station booking office is open you must have a ticket, if you are caught without a ticket in these conditions they have 3 choices, 1. allow you to pay the fare, 2 issue a fixed notice, 3 kick you off. They can pick and choose. I've seen all three approaches in recent times. We are in a no win here since the law gives them options. I'm ready to play a game with IE and see how I'm dealt with by boarding in Broombridge. I know of people who have legitmate reasons for no ticket (no booking office) who where dealt with correctly at the booth, I also know of many who got collared legitimately
If the station is unstaffed they have to allow you to pay the fare, If IE refuse we would be in very quickly consider going to the courts and the minister to vindicate the passengers legal rights. If this had happened to be a Sunday you would almost certainly whould be in this boat.
Now in this case the train was early, you where at the station in reasonable time to obtain a ticket if the train was ontime, you can complain on the grounds Irish Rail broke there own rules and customer charter but its unlikely you will get the notice struck off, it might be but still in there eyes they have caught someone on a train with no ticket who boarded at a staffed station. Given the early train there is definitely a wedge you can use to force IE to do something but I'm sure they can claim the trainset excuse 'its our train we can run it when we like' Bear in mind a trip to court even if you win could end up costing you a lot more than 50 euro in travel and lost time
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