You might want to have a trawl through the local paper.
There are problems from time to time with drugs, break-ins and anti-social behaviour, but I suppose you'll find that to a certain extent in any small town / village these days?
Well Rathdrum has a rail station, 2 primary schols Avondale community school, 1 very expensive petrol station, only Chinese take away for miles. Has very good paddys day parade, still quiet rural feel. Its 35 mins from M50. For some reason its gets very frosty when other areas dont. Its services ( water and such) are been up graded so expect alot of development. It has a good rugby club, some good and some very rough pubs.
Sounding a bit snobbish but its more " Ballyer" than " Castleknock"