With all it's problems Cork's traffic is still over 2 million which is somewhere around the 2004 traffic level. This was considered a very satisfactory figure at the time. Of course it was never going to be enough to pay for the new terminal.
In hindsight maybe a major extension to the old terminal would have been sufficient. It'd be great to get back to 3 million but the worrying thing is that it took a virtual shuttle service to Dublin and people taking multiple foreign city breaks every year to get it to that level back in 2006. This winter Paris and Amsterdam will be the only viable Continental City Break destinations available from Cork as distinct from upwards of 10 during the boom.
What's particularly frustrating is that the range of flights is decreasing as the economy is improving.