John McAreavey: ‘Michaela’s in a better place now.. but I can never move on’

Grieving John McAreavey has revealed the “special relationship” he has with his murdered bride Michaela. The 28-year-old still hopes to be reunited with his love after their 2011 honeymoon in Mauritius was horrifically cut short.

He said yesterday: “Michaela is far removed from all that has happened.

“Where she is now is in a very good happy place and that’s all that matters to me.

“I have a special bond with Michaela and I’m sure that’s what marriage brings for a lot of people.

“She was just a wonderful person and I’m lucky we got to share our special relationship. I suppose I’m still living off that.

“I still have a relationship with Michaela — it’s not how I wanted it to be but I will take whatever I can get really.

“I’ve heard this notion of ‘moving on’ and I don’t really know what you are moving on from.

“I don’t really understand that term. You just have to pick yourself up and realise the way it used to be. It used to be wonderful and maybe some day it might be again, you never know.”

John said he longs for justice for Michaela and it has been good news to hear the PSNI and cops in Mauritius are working together to crack the case.

He said: “They are doing all they can. Only time will tell.”

Down GAA player John spoke at the launch of the Michaela Foundation’s Match for Michaela — described as a festival with football.

It’s a major fundraising event at Belfast’s Casement Park next month to mark the life of the inspirational newlywed.

The daughter of Tyrone football manager Mickey Harte, Michaela, 27, was found strangled in her hotel room bathtub 12 days after getting married.

She was enjoying her honeymoon on the Indian Ocean island of Mauritius in January 2011 when the killer struck.

In July of this year, two former workers at the isle’s Legends Hotel, Sandip Moonea, 43, and Avinash Treebhoowoon, 32, were acquitted of murder.

John said: “Anyone who has been faced with a situation like we have, you have to react in the right way and that’s about being positive in your life.

“There are a lot of things out there in life that are still worth pursuing and I think the Michaela Foundation is an embodiment of that.

“This is how we react to things. We are keen to dwell on Michaela in the right manner.”

Hosted by broadcaster Hector O hEochagain, the festival is set to pull in thousands of people from across the island.

The highlight will see All-Ireland champs Donegal take on Ulster’s finest players, the current interprovincial champions.

John said: “It’s a festival with football, but it’s also going to be much more than that, two or three big music acts and dancing through the night.

“It’s going to give us a chance to showcase the Michaela Foundation, what we have done so far and what we hope to do in the future.”

He said the Foundation was set up last year after all the “kind things people said about Michaela, about the way she lived her life”.

He added: “It kind of resonated with a lot of people so we thought we would start up a foundation so those values would live on.

“Simply in three words we have tried to inspire, support and educate.”

The Foundation is already running two programmes, one giving grants of over €1,000 to students who agree to write a monthly blog.

And the second has been the inaugural week-long camp in Tyrone where 70 young girls stayed during the summer.

John said: “What we want to do is to spread those camps throughout Ireland.The core principles that Michaela lived her life by were entwined into Irish culture, “She was very much into her faith and she loved having fun. It’s now very hard these days for a young person growing up, there’s so many distractions and you can be led in different ways.

“But I think if you have got strong principles they make a foundation for your life and it sets you up well for the future.”

X Factor star Janet Devlin and More Power to Your Elbow are among the music acts due on the day.

Ulster GAA President Aogan O Fearghail said: “Michaela McAreavey was first and foremost a Gael — she loved Gaelic Games and loved the Irish language and culture.

“We have all been enriched to have her part of our Association and our community and this event, we hope, will remember the life, heart and soul of a beautiful young woman who lost her life too soon.”

Michaela’s dad Mickey Harte added: “As well as remembering Michaela in a unique way, this is a night of celebration of the many good things of life that she loved.”

Source: The Irish Sun