Every so often, the MSM provides information you were unaware of and so it is with this story.
I was aware that there had been a siding for grain off the former Portlaoise to Kilkenny line, with the result that a section of the latter was retained/reinstated, however, I assumed that with Irish Rail having a tendency to remove redundant railway sections, rather than maintain them, that this was gone.
From the photo at the above link, this is clearly not so.