March 6th/7th, 1997: The bodies of Sylvia Shiels and Mary Callinan are discovered in their sheltered accommodation at Number 1, Orchard View, Grangegorman, Dublin.
July 26th, 1997
Dean Lyons is arrested and confesses to the murder of the two women. He is charged with the murder of Ms Callinan the following day, appears at a special sitting of the District Court and is remanded in custody.
August 16th, 1997
Mark Nash, a British national, arrested for the double murder of Carl and Catherine Doyle in a savage knife attack in Co Roscommon, also confesses to the Grangegorman killings.
August 27th, 1997
Assistant Commissioner James McHugh is asked to review all the evidence relating to the murders in light of Nash's confession.
October 10th, 1997
A Garda file is submitted to the Chief State Solicitors saying that a prima facie case was established to justify the charging of Mr Lyons and recommending that a further charge should be brought against him in relation to the death of Ms Shiels.
February 16th, 1998
Consultant psychiatrist Dr Adrian Grounds, engaged by the DPP, raises significant doubts about the reliability of Mr Lyon's confession, saying that he may have been abnormally likely to yield to leading questions.
March 25th, 1998
Assistant Commissioner McHugh recommends that charges against Mr Lyons be dropped. He says: "I conscientiously believe that Dean Lyons did not commit the murders of Mary Callinan and Sylvia Shiels."
April 29th, 1998
The DPP directs that the proceedings against Mr Lyons should be discontinued. The charge of murder of Ms Callinan is formally withdrawn at the Dublin District Court.
September 12th, 2000
Mr Lyons dies of a heroin overdose in England. He has agreed to co-operate with an investigation into the murder of the two women.
February 24th, 2005
The Garda apologises to the Lyons family. They say that following a full investigation, they are satisfied that Mr Lyons had no involvement with the Grangegorman murders.
April 7th, 2006
The commission of investigation into the Dean Lyons case is established with George Birmingham SC as its sole member.
