`It's not just a property. It's something real and tangible to them. It's where they have lived all their lives'
They were never really wealthy, but they always enjoyed a comfortable living at their 19th-century Georgian home on two acres in Blackrock, Co Dublin. Now the Blackall sisters, Eileen (88) and Rose (81), face financial ruin. "They are literally penniless now. For a family used to money that's hard to take," said Mr William Blackall, a nephew.
"It's terrible to see them end up this way. The house means so much to them. It's not just a property. It's something real and tangible to them. It's where they have lived all their lives. Rose herself was born there. They can't imagine being without it."
Mr Blackall visited his aunts yesterday afternoon shortly after news broke of the High Court ruling ordering the sale of Marino Park to property developers for £400,000, a fraction of its current market value.
Since being evicted from the house two years ago, the sisters have been living at their cousins' home in Blackrock. Now bedridden, they were unable to travel to the Four Courts to witness what seemed to be the final chapter in a nine-year legal battle.
"They were devastated when they heard the news," said Mr Blackall. "Eileen was just sitting silently on the bed, and Rose, I've never seen anyone so white. They were both too shocked to speak." Barring any further legal moves, yesterday's ruling is the end of the women's struggle to block the transfer of their home to Chessington Ltd.
They jointly own the house with their sister-in-law, Ms Iris Blackall, the widow and administrator of their brother Gerald's estate. The house had been owned by the Blackall family since 1917 when it was purchased by the sisters' father, the Nationalist MP, Tomas Blackall.
In 1995 Judge James Carroll in the Circuit Civil Court ordered the sale of the house amid a dispute over wills. It was bought by Chessington for £400,000.
Two years later the case came on appeal before Ms Justice Laffoy in the High Court. She affirmed Judge Carroll's order and granted Ms Iris Blackall liberty to apply to the Circuit Court for an order giving her possession. Four months later Judge Carroll granted that order. The Supreme Court upheld Ms Justice Laffoy's ruling.
In the meantime, the sisters had been served with an eviction order which was enforced by a sheriff in October 1998.
Following many unsuccessful revisits to the High Court, the case came back to the Circuit Court where Judge Liam Devally was asked by Mr Brendan Maloney, who had been given carriage of sale of the property, to order the execution of a deed of conveyance to the purchaser.
In a ruling which effectively nullified the contract of sale, Judge Devally found that all parties, including Chessington, were aware that only 12.5 per cent of the deposit on foot of the purchase contract had been paid and that no one had requested payment of the outstanding deposit.
He believed that by allowing years to pass before even tendering the deposit the developer was in fundamental breach of Section 31 of the contract of sale.
The case returned to the High Court last February when Mr Justice Finnegan was asked to finally decide whether a valid contract was in place and whether the sale should proceed.
In his judgment yesterday, Mr Justice Finnegan said that, while there was a breach of the conditions for the sale, the contract for sale remained in existence.
But the legal meanderings may not end there. Relatives of the sisters were last night examining the possibility of an appeal to European Court of Justice. "We will try to get an injunction on the sale pending a hearing in Europe," said Mr Blackall.
Legal sources said, however, that the European Court would be unlikely to entertain such an appeal unless an issue of EU treaty law was at stake.
Since their eviction, the health of the sisters has declined dramatically. Eileen has suffered a heart attack and has undergone two eye operations, leaving her with only partial sight. Rose has been in and out of casualty on at least four occasions.
"It's terrible to see them end up this way," said Mr Blackall. "It's like in the past few years they have lost everything."
What little remuneration the sisters will get for their home, now valued at between £3.5 million and £4 million, is expected to be whittled away by mortgage charges and legal costs.