A brother of Evelyn Joel said yesterday he had become concerned about his sister's welfare in the months preceding her admission to hospital with severe malnutrition.
Tom Connolly said he had tried to see his sister over the past year but "we weren't let in" to the house in which she had been staying.
Mrs Joel (58) was discovered in an emaciated state in an upstairs bedroom of her daughter's home in Enniscorthy on January 1st. She died in hospital last Saturday.
"I was concerned," Mr Connolly told a press conference, which was called in the town by Ms Joel's siblings. "I hope the proper authorities will deal with it and whatever they come up with, we will accept that.
"It is a tragedy that should not have happened. All I can say is that the people involved should have called for help, should not have let it get out of hand." Mr Connolly was joined at the press conference by his three other sisters, Maureen, Margaret and Kathleen. He said his brother Michael had been too upset to attend, adding they were all "devastated" by the events.
The siblings said the Garda had advised them not to discuss the investigation, nor the state of their sister's health before her death.
However, they wished to correct certain misunderstandings. In particular, reports of maggots on her body were "blown out of proportion", said Mr Connolly. "I never heard anything about maggots."
"She was about 4½ stone in weight, I would say. She was not as small as they made out," he added. "She was very thin. She was in a coma. She had some bed sores, naturally enough."
He described his sister "Ennie" as a "very jolly person" who liked knitting and enjoyed a song with her sister, Kathleen. She was also "kind and good natured" and a devoted mother to her two children. She used to carry her children's school bags to school for them until they were in their teens.
"She was so good to those children," he said, that if anything she was "over protective".
He said his sister was also very independent and stubborn, however.
Mrs Joel's sisters said they last saw her at the funeral of their late brother John about two years ago. Mr Connolly said he had last seen her about 12 months ago. Sometime after she had moved in with her daughter, Eleanor, "we weren't let in to see her", he said.
"We remained in contact by phone until about maybe three months ago and I had a bit of an argument with her myself. I was trying to get her a house with the local council here in Enniscorthy and she fell out with me over that, saying I was interfering in her life . . . I tried to phone her again and she would not answer my call. She never tried again to get in touch with me. So I just lost contact with her."