John McCreevy: Love, moving forward, and hope in seeking justice for Michaela

After meeting as students in Belfast, Michaela and John married on 30 December 2010.

However, tragedy struck just 12 days later when she visited the couple’s room at a luxury resort in Mauritius alone after lunch, and was discovered by John, who raised the alarm.

In the aftermath, June, now 41, said there was shock, but there was also “outrage” at the way the authorities handled her death, and the lack of convictions afterwards.

“I never asked the question ‘why did this happen to me?’ I always felt very sorry for Michaela,” he said.

“Only now can I talk about it completely logically. There is still a lot of pain associated with it, but I accept that it will always be that way.

“I know how hard it is to live with this pain, so I was able to find a way to deal with it.”

“Moving forward is a term that has never been comfortable for me,” admits McAreavey, who was involved in Down’s senior football panel and won an All-Ireland Intermediate title with his club Tullylish in 2010.

“I’ve said before about moving forward, and this changes the reference around it.

“You’ll never get over something like this, you can’t let that happen. You have to find a way to move forward.”

“I’m still very involved in trying to get justice for Michaela, so this is still a very active part of my life.”