Personally I think it's a great area. In the shadows of St. Patricks, 5 mins walk to Dame Street/Stephen's Green, all the amenities of the city centre.
The immediate locality has a sizeable residential population with a good mix of household types i.e. elderly people, young families, mature families, young professionals etc... (IMHO this is preferable to living in a community that is over-represented with one particular household type).
I've always found it to be a relatively safe area of the city too. There are no real congregation spots for the tortured teens (unlike the sprawling green areas of suburbia) and there is a large Garda Station nearby.