EI and bucket and shovel routes from ORK
If EI want to diversify ORK CDG at twice daily should work. Also a destination like Milan would attract inbound tourists as well as outbound city breakers and holiday makers bound for the lakes and mountains of Northern Italy.
They already feed KLM and BA hubs at AMS and LHR. A similar arrangement with LH at FRA might make a daily service from Cork more viable.
In any event over reliance on Sun routes is a dangerous strategy in these recessionary times.
I don't think the runway at Cork is an issue with pilots who need to divert from Dublin. It's just that Belfast and Shannon are closer. Also in the past inbound diversions were regarded as a nuisance at Cork rather than a source of additional revenue and airlines were even told they wern't wanted .
Whether or not that's still the case I cannot say.