The association ran a couple of functions a year at the club and Rachel used to act as the organiser, making sure that food and other details were taken care of.

I met the mother-of-two a few times in 2002 and 2003, and remember two occasions vividly because the association was trying to get into the Guinness Book of Records.As I remember it, they were trying to break the record for the amount of time playing the game and actually succeeded in the second year.

When you saw Rachel, you could not but notice her size. She was a tall and well-built woman who looked extremely powerful. She was very athletic and was an excellent softball player. She was also very pretty with a smile that was infectious and lit up a room.

I always found her to be a very friendly woman and she was always laughing and joking. I remember one occasion when there was no hot water for showers for the players and she came to talk to myself and my boss, Daithi White. She was not annoyed and made a joke along the lines of, "Look at the state of me, lads. It's in your interests that I have a shower and get cleaned up."

We said we'd sort it out straight away and she flashed us a big smile and ran out of the room to take care of something else. She always seemed to be busy and always seemed to be smiling.

Later on when the games were over and the players were enjoying a drink, she would chat and ask how you were getting on and if the staff wanted a bit of food. From what I saw of her, she was a decent, kind and happy person, always surrounded by people and very popular with her team-mates.

Just how popular she was became clear after she died and a special tribute page was set up for Rachel on the softball website. The association displayed a touching message to 'Tinkerbell', as she was known, and it was obvious that she would be missed by all her friends and colleagues.

When I first started working on the story of her murder, Daithi White rang me to tell me that the Rachel who was murdered and the Rachel who used to play softball in the club were the same person. It was an unhappy coincidence.

We both said that because of her sheer physical strength, it must have taken a very strong person to murder her because she was the type of woman who would put up an almighty fight.

When I started to speak to Joe O'Reilly, I never mentioned the fact that I had seen himself and his wife together playing softball and, to an outsider, looking happy. It didn't seem appropriate.

Looking back now, they were obviously not happy . . . or at least, Joe was not. When I heard about the emails he sent criticising his wife's mothering skills and painting her as the devil incarnate, it didn't tally with the woman I had met. All of Rachel's friends and family obviously say the same thing. They remember the kind, fun-loving, devoted mother who would do anything for anybody.

Despite what Joe O'Reilly says, she will always be remembered that way.