Dublin is not a safe place

I've only been back a short time but it's clear to me that Dublin is not a safe city. Every time I go into the centre of the city I witness criminal activity. One good point is that each time the Gardai (Irish Police Force) have responded really quickly, if a little overconfidently.
None the less, the situation is scary and quite an adjustment for someone who has gotten used to the relative safety of Japan.
It's becoming a joke. My friends are starting to call me 'The Vortex of Doom.' These terrible things only seem to happen when I'm around. I've already seen more crazy 'welcome home' moments than my friends have seen in years. People don't want to go into town with me:
I've had street brawlers crashing into the back of my taxi and being bundled off by gardai who came out of nowhere in an unmarked police car.
I've had a police car screaming up the street in the wrong direction, blocking a city bus, and seven officers piling on to arrest one poor young guy (I say poor because it turned out the gardai had the wrong bus!)
I've even seen a young foreign man chasing after someone full speed through the city streets, shouting "Stop! Thief!" It was just like a scene out of a movie.
Overall this is not a good first impression, and I'd be quite reluctant to recommend Dublin as a holiday destination. In the mean time I'll just have to toughen myself up. Do you think yoga can be used as a form of self-defense? Maybe I could do the tree pose, blend into the background, and wait for a chance to escape to safety.