NEW figures show a surge in Irish crime rates was recorded last year, with a 25% rise in murders and a huge 66% increase in attempted murders. The Central Statistics Office published its report called Headline Crime Statistics 2007 which showed a drop in robberies, but a jump in gun and drug crimes, and a sharp increase in child neglect cases.There were 84 homicides in Ireland last year, compared to 67 in 2006. Victim support groups have blamed the Irish government for not doing more to combat rising crime throughout the country."Obviously we're very disappointed the number of homicides is increasing so dramatically," said Joan Dean of the group Advic. "The fact is people have become more violent, that's something we need to deal with as a society. It seems people no longer have problem-solving skills and they resort to extreme violence to resolve anything."I don't see any great effort to deal with the rise in homicides and they are certainly not putting any effort into alleviating the situation of victims, and there is a lot (the government) can do."Rape reports were down 10% on the previous year, according to the statistics, but support groups questioned the accuracy of the figure."We're disappointed the overall number is down 10% because that doesn't reflect what we are hearing on the ground," said Ellen O'Malley-Dunlop, chief executive of the Dublin Rape Crisis Center.