DISTRAUGHT SINEAD GRABS BACK HER GIRL; STAR IN NEW CUSTODY ROW, SAY PALS

By Neil Michael

SINGER Sinead O'Connor has snatched her young daughter back from the
toddler's father, pals claimed last night.

The controversial chart star visited three-year-old Roisin at the home of
former lover John Waters in Dublin two weeks ago after giving him temporary
custody on Mother's Day.

She pretended she was taking their daughter for a walk but took her
straight to the airport and on to a plane bound for London. And Sinead has
hired round the clock minders and mounted state-of-the-art surveillance
systems at her home in Highgate, north London, to keep Roisin's father from
taking her back.

The snatch is a sensational twist to a long- running custody battle set to
hit London's High Court later this month.

Friends said the decision to give up her daughter was prompted by the
physical and emotional exhaustion of the tug-of-love row. One described it
as a "very low, almost suicidal time".

And a friend said last night: "She regretted giving her up in the first
place.

"She did it out of fear. She didn't think she had the strength to fight a
custody battle she thought she would lose.

"But she is now adamant she will never give up Roisin, whom she absolutely
adores."

Sinead is said to have told Waters where Roisin was in a phone call from
London. She then took her to Europe to stay with friends.

When the star gave Waters custody she said she was doing it in the best
interests of her daughter and that she intended to buy a home in Dublin so
she could visit.

The friend added: "Stress and pressure can do things to people and when you
feel you have nowhere to turn.

"Given the fact that she is a singer, she is isolated a lot of the time,
purely because of her work.

"Something had to give. She ended up in hospital."

Sinead's doctor referred her to a London hospital where she stayed for
about nine days.

The row between the couple burst into the open after it was revealed
Sinead's local social services were investigating her for allegedly
neglecting their little girl.

But two separate inquiries, found no evidence of neglect.

Sinead, whose string of hits include Nothing Compares 2U, also has an
11-year -old son Jake. She is on good terms with his father rock musician
John Reynolds.

She met Waters, a columnist on the Irish Times, in 1995 but they split when
she was eight weeks pregnant.

April 9, 1999