Cranberries singer Ms Dolores O'Riordan claimed today she had nothing to do with the hiring and firing of her staff, including the former nanny suing her for breach of contract.
The rock star strenuously denied claims that she and her husband Mr Don Burton had badly treated Ms Joy Fahy.
She said she knew very little about Ms Fahy (34) about her employment terms and the life she had left behind to look after their baby son.
Ms Fahy, who has also worked for U2 drummer Larry Mullen and supermodel Elle MacPherson, is suing the couple for breach of contract and alleged false imprisonment during her short term of employment in 1999.
She told the High Court in Dublin that the clothes she left at their Co Limerick home had never been returned, that complaints about expenses and irregular hours had been ignored and that she was expected to work in difficult conditions with no transport or mobile phone.
Ms O'Riordan said she left all employment issues to her husband, acknowledging that in general staff were hired on a trial three-month basis and no written contracts were issued. This was "rather unfortunate", she admitted, in Ms Fahy's case.
Under cross-examination, the singer described Ms Fahy's statement as "downright lies" including allegations that she repeatedly and excessively ironed.
The nanny claims that during a two-week holiday with the family at their Canadian home, she was told she must look after the baby for six weeks alone while the couple went away.
When she expressed her concerns, Mr Burton's reaction was so severe she was forced to barricade herself in a room with a suitcase, she said.
But Ms O'Riordan denied suggestions that he was "drunk, enraged, his eyes red and his fists clenched" and that he yelled he would "get her out of here on the first bloody flight home".
The 33-year-old singer said: "My husband was absolutely never drunk. He would never drink so much morning, noon and night."
Ms Fahy, who alleges her life was shattered when she was sacked by the couple, is suing them for €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.