‘It is impossible to explain how good a person she was’

When John McAreavey first met the girl who would become his wife, he was certain he had never set eyes on anyone more beautiful.

Seven years on and he still has not.

“I’ve yet to see anyone prettier than Michaela,” he said with absolute confidence when testifying to the Supreme Court.

They were students living in Belfast back then in 2005 — John studying accounting at Queen’s University and Michaela training to be a teacher at St Mary’s College. Mutual friends introduced them on a night out.

But the Co Down man was by no means the first to notice her beauty.

The year before she was selected to represent Ulster in the world famous Rose of Tralee contest.

“Michaela was a wonderful, wonderful person, a really special human,” John recalled at the trial. “She completed my whole life.

“She was loved by her parents — she was their only daughter. She was cherished by her brothers — their only sister.

“She had so many special qualities that it would be impossible for me to fully explain how good a person she was.”

After her early education she went on to Loretto Convent Grammar School in Omagh before heading to college up in Belfast.

By that stage her passion for the Irish language was already strong. Combined with a deep Catholic faith — she was a member of the devout, non-drinking Pioneer tradition — teaching religion and Irish was a job made for her.

But before taking on her post at St Patrick’s Academy in Dungannon in 2007 there were student days to be enjoyed. While others were downing pints in lively Belfast night spots, John and Michaela would often be seen having a cup of tea.

If she and John shared a liking for a good brew, their mutual interest in Gaelic football was a greater bond.

Undoubtedly a daddy’s girl, she seldom missed a training session, never mind a match. Only two months before her death, Michaela was cheering on her husband-to-be as he lifted the Down Intermediate Championship for Tullylish.

The couple got engaged in December 2008 and bought a house together.

But they did not move in.

John shared his fiancée’s strong faith and neither wanted to live together until they were married.

“We felt by waiting it would make the experience more new and magical and something to look forward to after we returned from honeymoon,” he explained to the court.

So the new build in Lawrencetown was rented out for the next 24 months as they turned their attention to wedding planning.

Their selected venue was a quaint church at Ballymacilroy. John’s uncle of the same name, the bishop of Dromore, married them on the Dec 30, 2010.

They had tried to get the wedding on the following day — Michaela’s 27th birthday. But the date did not work, so instead they shared another celebratory moment at midnight during their reception in a hotel just across the border. It was the perfect end to their dream wedding. Within two weeks those dreams were shattered forever in a Mauritius hotel room.

In the wake of his wife’s death, John has tried to keep her memory alive.

He set up the Michaela Foundation – a charity to promote healthy living and create opportunities for children to reach their potential. Its motto is “life without limits”.

It neatly sums up the attitude of his late wife, someone he said was “full of life and full of happiness”.

“Anyone who had the pleasure of knowing her or meeting Michaela would give testament to that,” he said in court.

“I do not have the words to fully explain how much she means to me and how much she still means to me and her family.

“She was the most beautiful person I have seen.”

* To read more on the Michaela McAreavey murder trial, click here