The jury at the trial of Adam Clayton's former personal assistant has been told it is not a case about the lives of the rich and famous but about prolonged and extensive fraud.
Carol Hawkins, 47, from Lower Rathmines Road in Dublin, has pleaded not guilty to 181 charges of stealing cheques drawn on Mr Clayton's bank accounts, totalling almost €3m.
Prosecuting barrister Colm O'Briain told the jury that Adam Clayton was a member of U2 who had "done well for himself".
He employed Carol Hawkins and her husband, John, initially as a housekeeper and driver and caretaker on a joint salary of around €48,000 a year.
The court was told the responsibilities of Ms Hawkins grew and she became a signatory on two Bank of Ireland accounts, and had chequebooks and a credit card to pay Mr Clayton's legitimate expenses.
In September 2008, Ms Hawkins told Mr Clayton she had paid for flights to visit her children out of the accounts and said she should not have.
He continued to employ Ms Hawkins until November 2009. At that stage, her employment was terminated and a full investigation began by forensic accountants and then gardaí.
The jury was told Ms Hawkins had drawn down 181 cheques from Mr Clayton's accounts, totalling €2.8m.
The prosecution says the cheques were lodged to her own account, a joint account with her husband and a credit card account.
Mr O'Briain said this was a grubby tale of prolonged, repeated and pernicious fraud, involving a gross breach of trust by the accused.
Just because Mr Clayton had done well for himself, did not mean it was not an offence to steal from him, Mr O'Briain said.
The prosecutor said it was not a defence to fraud to say no-one stopped me.
The case is expected to take around six weeks.
