MICHELLE ROCCA told the High Court yesterday that she and businessman Cathal Ryan made love at Tulfarris House Hotel four nights before he allegedly assaulted her in a bedroom at a party in Co Kildare.
Ms Rocca was being questioned by her own counsel, Mr Nicholas Kearns SC, on the third day of her action against Mr Ryan, which is being heard by Mr Justice Moriarty and a jury. When the hearing resumes on Tuesday Mr Ryan's side will begin.
Ms Rocca said she did not accept that Mr Ryan had ceased to be her fiance about a year before the alleged assault at Blackhall Stud, near Clane, Co Kildare, in March 1992 while a party was in progress.
Ms Rocca (38), of Hampton Crescent, Booterstown, Co Dublin, is claiming damages for assault against Mr Ryan, De Vesci Terrace, Monkstown, Co Dublin. Mr Ryan is denying the claims and it is submitted that if he did the acts complained of, there was provocation.
Ms Rocca is claiming she was assaulted by Mr Ryan after she found him lying on a bed and that another woman, Ms Sarah Lindon, was in the bed.
Mr Kearns said Mr Ryan's counsel had suggested that an incident shortly before Christmas 1990 was "the straw that broke the camel's back" and ended the relationship.
Ms Rocca said she did not accept that. She said an intimate relationship had continued between Mr Ryan and herself beyond April 1991.
After their baby was born in 1991, she and Mr Ryan had gone on a holiday to Ibiza and stayed in his father's home there In August, they went out for dinner together. In September/October, they went to Kilboy House in Co Tipperary and stayed there with the children and were in the same bedroom.
Before Christmas, added Ms Rocca, she stayed in Mr Ryan's home in Sandymount. In January and February, they had an intimate relationship. They went out with friends, her sisters Paula and Laura, and with Marian Gale and her husband.
Asked if the pattern continued into 1992, Ms Rocca said it was not as frequent after Christmas. There would not have been as many occasions. On a couple of occasions in January/February, she stayed in his house in Sandymount, Dublin.
Mr Kearns asked if Mr Ryan had ever told her he had embarked on a relationship with Ms Lindon, Ms Rocca said he never told her about a friendship with Ms Lindon. Asked if she had seen Mr Ryan and Ms Lindon together in the Berkeley Court Hotel Ms Rocca said: "Not to my recollection."
Mr Kearns said it had been suggested she invited herself to Tulfarris House shortly before the date of the alleged assault. Ms Rocca said that was not true. Mr Ryan had invited her over.
When she was going to leave Tulfarris House, Mr Ryan asked her to stay. Their daughter, Claudia, was at Blackhall Stud. Ms June Moloney, who lived at Blackhall Stud, told her not to worry and that she would look after the child. Mr Ryan and she (Ms Rocca) stayed the night together at Tulfarris.
Mr Kearns said it had been suggested there was no intimacy that night. Ms Rocca replied: "We made love that night."
She said that the next day they went back to Blackhall Stud and got there about late morning.
Mr Kearns asked Ms Rocca what attitude Ms Moloney had to her during the week in the court building. Ms Rocca said she saw her brushing past. Ms Moloney said hello or recognised her. She had been a friend but she (Ms Rocca) would question the word friend at this point.
Ms Moloney had been with herself and Van Morrison on many occasions and had sometimes gone to concerts with Van and herself.
Asked if Ms Moloney had ever told her that she had invited Mr Ryan and Ms Lindon to the party Ms Rocca said she had not. Asked if Ms Moloney had ever said that she must behave herself at the party, Ms Rocca said certainly not, it would have been a strange thing to say to anybody.
Mr Kearns asked her if she had had contact with Mr Ryan between the Wednesday night and the Saturday of the party. She said there were a few phone calls between them. They discussed the buying of a present for June's 30th birthday.
Questioned about the incident in the bedroom at Blackhall Stud, Ms Rocca said she had not pulled Ms Lindon by the hair from the bed on to the floor. She did not think she would have had the strength to do so. She was very thin following the birth of her baby.
"I don't think I'd have had the strength to pull a woman over a man on to the floor," Ms Rocca said.
Asked if Mr David Marshall, who was earlier stated to have been on another bed in the bedroom, ever got off it, Ms Rocca said she did not think so.
Mr Kearns asked her if she bumped her head off a door or furniture during the incident. Ms Rocca said no.
He asked if Mr Ryan and his companion remained in the house after the incident. Ms Rocca said that she remembered that June had shouted at them to get out and she thought they left immediately.
Mr Kearns asked her about arrangements for their daughter. She said she remembered the lease was up on her house in August and she rang Dr Tony Ryan and wanted to sort it out with regard to Claudia. She was thinking of buying a home and she thought they could work something out.
She thought Dr Ryan might be able to help with a deposit. He suggested that she look at houses and contacted Mr Michael O'Leary, of Ryanair.
Ms Rocca said that after the incident she told everyone she was in a car accident and she kept that up for a while. She told close friends and her sisters what had happened but not her parents.
She never received an apology. She was very traumatised and her self esteem was very low. She was then getting over the embarrassment and indignation and Mr Ryan was seeing Claudia.
The negotiations about the house broke down. She had thought she was getting her strength back but then Mr Ryan started getting "bolshie" about access and wanted to see Claudia on her own. He had never admitted assaulting her.