The lead singer of the Cranberries, Dolores O'Riordan, today dismissed claims that she and her husband neglected their baby son, drank excessively and treated their nanny badly as "completely untrue".
The rock star rubbished a string of allegations made by former child-minder Ms Joy Fahy and said she felt upset and let down when the 34-year-old suddenly quit, ruining her holiday and leaving the family in the lurch.
Ms Fahy, who has also worked as a childminder for U2 drummer Larry Mullen, is suing the star and her husband Don Burton (41) for breach of contract and alleged false imprisonment at their Canadian home in 1999.
But Ms O'Riordan (33) told Dublin's High Court the nanny's version of events during her term of employment was exaggerated and false.
She first employed Ms Fahy as a maternity nurse in 1997 but said she had not been ready to share her baby, and ended the arrangement after just 11 days.
The pair were similar in age and got on well, she said. So in April 1999, the singer and her husband re-hired the child-minder and she joined them during the Cranberries promotional tour of the US.
Ms Fahy claimed that on their return to Killmallock, Co Limerick, there were always strangers in the house, many of whom even the singer didn't know.
She also claimed Mr Burton frequently indulged in excessive drinking and that once she was confined to a bedroom with the baby and no food or drink until 3 a.m.
The singer said such allegations were completely unjustified. Asked about her husband's drinking, she said: "He never drinks during the day. Maybe in Hawaii on the beach but not in the house, he doesn't do that."
The suggestion that Ms O'Riordan instructed her child-minder to dunk her son in cold water to wake him up and ensure she could sleep uninterrupted, were ridiculous, she said.
"I am surprised Joy even brought it into her evidence," she said. Ms Fahy was dismissed during a two-week holiday in Canada. Ms Fahy claims that on the way to the airport Mr Burton told her she would be expected to stay and look after the baby for at least six weeks, which the Cranberries star denied.
O'Riordan dismissed the allegations. "We were tired, jet-lagged," she said. There was no drinking. There were provisions in the house." There was no way, she said, that her husband would have allowed Taylor on a jet-ski with no life jacket, as Ms Fahy claimed.
She is seeking payment of €12,700, a Cherokee jeep and the deposit for an apartment, which she claims were promised to her if the one-year verbal contract was terminated. The couple claim Ms Fahy walked out on them and let them down.
The case was adjourned until next Tuesday.
PA