1997 Subaru Legacy Shift interlock and it won't start

Need help, the car's battery died on a cold night back in Jan, since then it will not start and I could not even move it the shift lever would not move, it was locked and there was a clicking sound on the steering colunm when shift button was depressed. I looked in the manual and figured out it was the shift interlock and I over rode it to get it into neutral to move. Now it still will not start, is this shift interlock tied into another system? Every time the shift llocks up again and I need to insert screw driver to unlock per manual. Can this also prevent from starting? Have not been able to start for many weeks now and I am getting desperate. The shift interlock is $80 but I don't want to waste the $ if it may be something else, please advise, thanks you very much. Walter Edwards. 201-652-3023