So it seems lounge access is pretty pointless here. I like to use the lounge to kill excess time, but if I have to clear immigration I am going to end up playing it safe and not spending any time in the lounge.

Why do they preclear in Dublin? I much prefer to do it on landing. Doing it before the flight has a practical consequence of making me get to the airport an additional one hour early just in case lines are really slow. Doing it on landing usually just means an extra 15 minutes longer than a domestic landing.