Many thanks Expressflight for your comments also. Me thinks the people at Stobart did not do there homework very well or probably the people who decided on the Irish routes have no aviation background.
Regarding the new terminal, station etc. I believe that practically all the passengers on the Waterford and Galway services are VFR (visiting friends and relatives) for various reasons (i.e. weddings, funerals, holidays, etc) and are picked up and dropped off by relatives or friends so the railway equation does not really come into it because it really is a non-starter from Southend by train to North London and Bedfordshire where there is a very large Irish community. That is the problem in my opinion they are serving the wrong area with services to Southend and are already paying the consequences.
If the passenger numbers increase during the summer at Luton surely the powers at be at Stobart/Aer Arrean are not going transfer some services back to Southend in the autumn or maybe they will!
Not convinced by LoCos though too much competition well established close by.