When Sylvia Shiels and Mary Callinan were murdered in Grangegorman in 1997, newspapers described them as two elderly psychiatric patients.But Ms Stella Nolan will always remember her sister, Sylvia, as a bright and beautiful young woman with legions of admirers. Mary Callinan has no surviving family but Ms Nolan said she would fight for as long as she can for the truth to be told about the double murder.
"This case is not going to be let die. I am prepared to go the full way, whatever it takes. I just want to solve the problem of who killed my sister and why."
Stella was very close to Sylvia and they shared a flat in Dublin for several years when both worked in the Civil Service. All other tenants in the house were female and they all visited Sylvia. "She had beautiful blue eyes and she was very clever and witty. She had a great sense of fun and was the centre of everything."
After Stella married and was busy rearing four young children, Sylvia began to withdraw. "She stopped meeting people, going out and enjoying herself. She withdrew completely."
In the late 1970s, Sylvia was admitted to St Brendan's psychiatric hospital for the first time, after she refused to leave her bed. She had not eaten or drunk in a week. Eventually, she remained in Grangegorman, while continuing to work.
She took early retirement in the 1980s and then got a job in a factory. "She absolutely loved it. She began to blossom, to take an interest in her clothes and meeting people. There was such an improvement in her on the very last Christmas she was with us."
Stella believed that Sylvia was on the road to recovery and was looking forward to spending time with her: "She would have been my friend now, when I have time and am retired."
Instead, Sylvia and Mary Callinan were the victims of a frenzied attack in their sheltered housing accommodation almost seven years ago. They were stabbed to death while a third resident, who was wearing personal cassette headphones, lay sleeping in an adjacent room.
The way she was dealt with after the murder still rankles with Stella Nolan.
"We weren't even let know she was murdered. That morning, I woke up and heard that two women had been murdered in Grangegorman and somehow or other I knew it was Sylvia."
She said gardaí never gave her any information about the investigation. "All they would say was that the investigation was ongoing. It's an ongoing investigation going nowhere."
Yesterday, a Garda spokesman said the case was still under investigation, and was under constant review whenever new forensic technologies were raised. He said gardaí were not in touch with Ms Nolan because there was nothing new to report.
Ms Nolan said she was still upset that she was not allowed to see her sister immediately after her death. "I didn't want to see her all patched up and made nice again. I wanted to see her as she really had died. I don't know why, but it was important to me."
She said she was not allowed to have any of her sister's things afterwards. "I wasn't let even have as much as an earring of her possessions. I wanted a memento."
She also questioned the security in the house, pointing out that there was no phone, alarm or buzzer.
A spokesman for the Northern Area Health Board said Ms Shields lived in one of a group of five sheltered houses and nurses were always on duty in one of these houses. The aim was to foster non-intrusive independent living, he said. He also said gardaí took possession of property and belongings in the house, following the murders.
Ms Nolan said she would have taken an action against the State "but, at the time, I couldn't get a solicitor to represent me".
Solicitors told her that she would be taking on the might of the health board and the State and she couldn't win the case. "Nobody would take the case and when I found somebody who would [Mr Michael Finucane], the time had lapsed. You have to do it within three years."
Now she feels a public inquiry is her only hope. "I won't let this go, even if I lose everything," she said. "I have no choice."
