And there they were, Sheelagh brought up Niamh without Des for sixteen happy years, but Reg was always glad to help out. As she was getting older Niamh started to ask where her father was. Sheelagh told her he had died in a car accident before she was born which was partly true. Sheelagh didn't tell her what he had done or that he had killed 6 people she didn't see the need or think she would be able to handle it, apart from that Des Taviner was never really mentioned. But all that was about to change. In the sixteen years that had past not a lot had really changed at Sun Hill everything was still as it was the day Des drove into the warehouse. But one night after her shift Sheelagh was going home to her daughter and family. When something happened. She walked out of the station and started to walk down the street past the station when she got a prickle feeling on the back on her neck, like she was being watched. She turned around and there he was…Des Taviner. She stepped into the road but he had vanished. The next day however Sheelagh was shaken by her sighting of Des had asked Reg why he had come back. Reg believed Des had come back into Sun Hill to clam his daughter. So you could imagine Sheelagh's reaction when she believed Niamh had gone missing after failing to turn up at school, and her first thought was that Des has kidnapped Niamh. Reg and Gina both tried to calm her down and after a search find her safe and well, it turned out that she had skipped a lesson and gone to the park with her mates. It's panic, over nothing, and in a way it lulled Sheelagh into a false sense of security. As Sheelagh began to calm down, she agreed to let Niamh out of her sight for the evening so she could meet up with Patrick and try and patch up their marriage. However on the night she went out Niamh wasn't feeling to good, Sheelagh said she could stay home but Niamh said she'd be all right, she took a tablet and went to bed. Just to take extra care Sheelagh wanted somebody to stay with her so Gina asked PC Camron Tait if he wouldn't mind watching her, he had a daughter of his own so Sheelagh agreed that he was a safe bet. But while Sheelagh was out Camron went up to check on Niamh who was asleep but when he went up to her that's when he discovered she wasn't not breathing. So when Sheelagh came home, she found an ambulance outside the house and paramedics trying to resuscitate Niamh. Niamh was rushed to hospital but there was nothing anyone can do. And she latter died…
The mystery surrounding Niamh's death only made matters worse as Sheelagh took the loss of her daughter hard and struggled to take in what had happened it didn't help matters when her house then became a crime scene, and thinking Des may have had something to do with her death. She also blamed Camron and the Aussie cop turned to drink in an effort to escape his feelings of guilt and responsibility. However it turned out that Camron was not to blame for Niamh's death but he still felt guilty.
It turned out Niamh had a whole in her heart that was so tiny no one could detect it, and it could have killed her at any time.
However, when Des turned up on Sheelagh's door step she tried to shut the door in his face but he told her that he had come back for her and there child. Des was blabbering on about how much he loves them both and he wants to be with them, so she is forced to tell him that there daughter has died. He was totally shocked and runs of. Des managed to track down Niamh's chapel of rest and battled his way past Reg – who is on guard to capture him – to say a heartfelt hello and goodbye to his daughter. After a row broke out between the former friends Reg let slip that Camron was watching his daughter the night she died and, outraged, Des left Reg bound and gagged and set of on the hunt for Camron's blood…