A 48-year-old waitress who said she had a 27-year relationship with a now jobless garage owner has been awarded a €200,000 share of their €390,000 home in Dublin.
Ms Marian Flood, Magennis Square, Pearse Street, Dublin, told the Circuit Civil Court yesterday she had been in a relationship with Mr Eugene Rosatta since she was 21. After the birth of their daughter they bought a €15,000 house at 11 Phibsboro Avenue, Dublin, in 1992.
Judge Alison Lindsay heard that Ms Flood's parents had paid a €4,000 deposit on the house and she had spent personal savings and a Credit Union loan of €5,000 on a complete refurbishment.
Ms Flood said Mr Rosatta's sister, Ms Phyllis Rosatta O'Neill, had paid the remainder of the purchase price but had been paid back later from rental income after the couple lived elsewhere for a period. She told her counsel, Ms Susan Lennox, that the house was sold in 1996 for €75,000, and, with the aid of a mortgage, she and Mr Rosatta bought 154 Abbey Drive, Dublin, for €90,000.
Ms Flood said they lived there until she left with her daughter in 1999. She said the house was now valued at €390,000, with a €21,400 mortgage outstanding, leaving an equity of €368,600.
She told Ms Lennox that Mr Rosatta had a gambling problem and seldom contributed towards mortgage payments or household expenses. Sometimes he would make a contribution but would take it back or borrow it again to fund his problem. She said that on one occasion he had paid just under €7,000 from a successful bet he had made and the money had gone towards the mortgage.
She said both properties had been in his sole name. The reason for this dated back to the Phibsboro Avenue purchase when she had been claiming lone-parent allowance and was advised she would lose it if she had a shared property in her name.
Ms Lennox told the court Mr Rosatta initially filed a defence to Ms Flood's claim but it had been struck out at an earlier hearing on the basis he had failed to comply with an order for discovery. He and his solicitors had been informed of yesterday's trial date but no one had turned up in court. There had been no formal application by his solicitors to come off record for him.
Judge Lindsay awarded Ms Flood half the equity in the property, amounting to €184,000, with a further €15,000 to come out of Mr Rosatta's half towards her personal investment. Ms Flood was also granted full legal costs.