Woman who accused me of rape should go to jail, says Flatley

LORD of the Dance star Michael Flatley says the woman who accused him of rape should be behind bars.

Yesterday, while briefly reviewing the work-in-progress at his mansion at Castlehyde, Fermoy, Co Cork which is costing €10 million to restore he vowed to leave his accuser reeling in a counter-claim.

"She's got a tiger by the tail," he said of Chicago-based estate agent Tyna Marie Robertson who has dropped her $32 million action against the international star.

"This is a terrific weight lifted off my shoulders," he said.

"It's terrible in today's world that somebody can accuse you without any proof, or anything going for them, and drag your name all over the papers like that and get away with it. It's terrible."

He has counter-sued Ms Robertson for $100m in Los Angeles Superior Court and has no intention of dropping his case.

"I'm not done with her ... and I'll take this right to the limit, somebody like that should go to jail," the 44-year-old Michigan-born entertainer said.

Responding to recent reports that Ms Robertson may re-enter her lawsuit in another state, he said: "She has no case and no right to file one, whatsoever. That's just her way of trying to soften the blow for herself, but I'm not finished, not by any means."

Mr Flatley has just returned from South Africa, where he met Nelson Mandela and pledged to do a show for charity in March, 2004 coinciding with the launch of his Lord of the Dance tour of Africa and Asia.

The dancer was accompanied by his fiancée, Lisa Murphy, but refused to discuss the subject of marriage.

"How do you know we're not already married?" he quipped.

When asked for her reaction to the retracted claim that Mr Flatley raped Ms Robertson in his room at the Venetian Hotel, Las Vegas, in October, 2002, Ms Murphy said: "I always had confidence in him and I knew there was nothing to this at all."

The millionaire dancer said it was quite an experience meeting Mr Mandela.

"I loved him, I thought he was a real gentleman and a very warm human being and that can be rare in the sort of business he's in," he said.

He confirmed he had invited Mr Mandela to the formal opening of Castlehyde. "I hope he will accept the invitation, he's got such a busy schedule, but I'm pretty confident he will accept, he said he loves the Irish people."

Regarding the extensive work on the mansion and estate, Mr Flatley said he and his fiancée had hoped it would be finished in the next few months.

"We were hoping the work would be finished for Thanksgiving, but my guess is that it's going to be closer to Christmas. Then again, I'd imagine spring is a good time for a house-warming party," he said.

The house was built in 1801 and is set on 150 acres of pasture and woodland on the banks of the Blackwater. It was the ancestral home of Ireland's first president, Douglas Hyde, and Mr Flatley paid £3 million for it in 1999.