Michael Gallagher says he soon returned home and heard sirens and an Army helicopter, before a news flash came on the TV.

"The news flash said there was a huge explosion in Omagh town centre and there were casualties," he says.

"And then a short time after that, the prime minister came on and it was at that point that I knew that it was very serious."

He says he told his daughter Cat "to put the TV off and don't put it on again".

She then placed a white candle on the window and Michael left to go to the county hospital.

Mr Gallagher now tells the inquiry about the morning of 15 August 1998.

He says Aiden spoke to his father in the kitchen in the early afternoon to say he was heading into Omagh with his friend to buy new jeans.

His father says he gave him advice of where to park and how the shop would measure him for his jeans.

After this conversation, Aiden made his way down the hall where he turned and said: "I won't be long".

This was the last time Michael Gallagher saw his son.

About an hour later Mr Gallagher heard an explosion, so he locked the door and made his way towards Omagh where he saw smoke rising.

Michael Gallagher tells the inquiry his family had already suffered personal loss during the Troubles and they all wanted to see peace in Northern Ireland.

"My younger brother, Hugh, was assassinated on 3 June 1984 by the IRA and we knew the pain of loss," he said.

"When it came to the point of voting on the Good Friday Agreement, myself and my wife Patsy and our three children went and voted.

"We voted 'Yes' for peace."

The agreement was signed on 10 April 1998 and was passed by a referendum in May - just months before the Omagh bomb.

Michael Gallagher is asked about a car - a white Toyota MR2 - which Aiden owned.

"He really loved that MR2 car, it was his dream car and it was his pride and job," he says.

Aiden broke the timing belt just before the bombing and he was worried about that so the car was put in the garage.

"A few weeks after he died we went back and put a timing belt on it," Mr Gallagher says.

He says it was a great reminder of Aiden and a coke can sat in the drink holder until the paint faded in the sun, but that Aiden's mother Patsy kept the can for many years.

Michael Gallagher says Aiden was very close with his sister Cat, they went to the same school and had their school photographs taken together.

Mr Gallagher says the pair got up to "mischief", giving the example of the time his wife spotted Aiden and his sister having a tea party on the roof.

As they got older and when Aiden was making money while his sister wasn't, he made sure his sister got to do what she wanted to do.

Mr Gallagher says "as brother and sister they worked really well together".

Michael Gallagher speaks of the "very special bond" Aiden had with his mother Patsy.

He recalled when Aiden came home from a night out with his friends, he would come into his parents' bedroom in the early hours of the morning.

Their son would then begin to recount the events of his night out - who he saw and how he enjoyed himself.

Michael says he would often be too tired to listen and would say: "Aiden, could we not speak about this in the morning?"

But Aiden would always "sit on his mother's side of the bed" and chat away, despite the late hour.

"I could never understand how his mother Pasty coped after he died," Michael said.

"I don't know where she got the energy - and then given that her father died 11 days after that

"I think it shows the strong character that she is."

Michael Gallagher says Aiden had a "wide group of friends" from a range of "different backgrounds and interests".

Mr Gallagher says his son would have been "the joker of the pack" as "he enjoyed fun, he enjoyed company".

He also tells the inquiry Aiden "didn't like bullies" as he had a "sympathetic nature" and preferred to be with people "that valued each other for the person they were".

He adds that Aiden had no interest in politics and enjoyed the company of people regardless of their religion.

Michael Gallagher tells the inquiry his son was someone you would feel "confident" of when he was given a job to do.

He says the young mechanic was "very meticulous" when he undertook a task and, unlike himself, Aiden had the patience to work out how to solve a problem or complete a task.

"He would generally always be able to complete whatever he decided to take on," he says,

Michael Gallagher shares how from an early age his son knew the importance of doing things and doing them right.

Within days of his birth he was brought to the café his mother managed.

Alongside this he helped his father with cars with his siblings, which Mr Gallagher says brought them closer as a family.

He says his son had a very happy childhood and that there was a close, supportive family unit.

Michael recalls that from an early age, Aiden had an interest in mechanic used to take toys apart.

He then went to college to do car body repair where he enjoyed learning even "how the paint was made" and took "great pride" in his work.

Image source, Family handout

Michael Gallagher has told the inquiry that his family believes the death of his son Aiden was directly linked to the death of Aiden's grandfather, 11 days after the Omagh bomb.

Aiden, who was 21 when he died, shared his birthday with his grandfather John O'Connor.

"There was exactly 60 years of difference between them," Michael said.

"They always celebrated their birthday together."

He said that Aiden's death changed John O'Connor into a "different person" and he seemed to lose interest in life.

Recalling his son's funeral, Michael told the inquiry: "I was in the church and I could just see in John's face that he was seeing and thinking that he should have been in that box and not Aiden"

Self-employed mechanic Aiden Gallagher was killed in the blast while shopping with a friend in Omagh for boots and jeans.

His father Michael treasured his last memory of Aiden: "It was just lovely to remember those last few minutes that he was standing there, just the way you would want him to be."

Michael subsequently became the chairman of the Omagh Self Help and Support Group for victims of the attack and relatives of those who were killed and injured.

Today we'll also hear tributes to Fred and Bryan White, and Olivia Hawkes.

Fred's son Bryan were shopping in Omagh at the time of the attack.

Fred, 65, was a treasurer in the Omagh Ulster Unionist Association and played a part in the successful campaign that led to the election of William Thompson as the West Tyrone MP the previous year.

Bryan, 27, was a qualified horticulturist and was due to start a new job the following week.

Like his father he was a member of the Orange Order and he also served as an officer in the Boys' Brigade, a Christian youth organisation.

Olive Hawkes was a married mother-of-two who was killed while doing her regular Saturday shopping in Omagh.

The 60-year-old was due to celebrate her ruby wedding anniversary.

Image source, Charles McQuillan/Getty Images

Hello and welcome back to BBC News NI's live coverage of the Omagh Bombing Inquiry.

The public inquiry was set up by the government to examine whether the 1998 explosion could have been prevented by the UK authorities.

The hearings will resume today with more personal testimonies from families who lost loved ones in the Real IRA attack.

We are due to hear from Michael Gallagher, whose son Aiden Gallagher died in the blast.

Michael Gallagher is a high-profile campaigner who led efforts to force the government to hold this inquiry.

His evidence is expected to be followed by a personal commemoration of shop assistant Ann McCombe, on behalf of her widower and family.

The inquiry has ended for the day and we will now pause our live coverage.

We have heard tributes to bride-to-be Esther Gibson, with a poem read by her sister Caroline Martin.

The mothers of Buncrana schoolboys Shaun McLaughlin and Oran Doherty had their statements read out by relatives. Both said time had not healed their heartache.

Shaun and Oran, alongside James Barker and two Spanish exchange students, Rocio Abad Ramos and Fernando Blasco Baselga, were killed after the group stopped in the town after a trip to the Ulster American Folk Park.

Finally, the inquiry heard from Ronan McGrory, who was on the same trip and was best friends with Shaun. He's the first survivor the inquiry has heard from and he spoke of his guilt and how the day has haunted him for the past 26 years.

Today's live page was edited by Caroline McClatchey, with help from writers Davy Wilson, Barry O'Connor and Jessica Lawrence.

More on today's proceedings can be found here.

Our live coverage will resume tomorrow when the inquiry sits again at 10:00 GMT.

Lord Turnbull says he is grateful for Mr McGrory recounting the events of that day.

"It is very clear from your evidence that the effects of the bombing have been both powerful and long lasting, at times they appear to have been overwhelming.

"It is very generous of you to agree to explain the horrors of that day to the inquiry.

"Your evidence has been of real value and I am very grateful to you Mr McGrory."

One of the nurses looking after Mr McGrory in hospital was the wife of the policeman who helped him in the aftermath of the bombing.

He still doesn't know their names.

"Every day I think about the bomb and it never leaves me. I do not think that it will never leave me.

"The trauma and injuries have continued to haunt me and this can be very exhausting."

He resents that he continued to reach milestones in his life, but his friend Shaun never got to.

Image source, Omagh Bombing Inquiry

Mr McGrory says that it took him about 20 years to seek counselling and bereavement support to understand the psychological toll of the bombing.

He says he felt "left behind" as he was never offered any support in the aftermath.

Mr McGrory says he now has a wife and two children, and that this has brought up "new feelings".

He says he often sees Oran Doherty's family in Buncrana and "feels bad".

Trips to other market towns are also difficult, as well as loud sounds, Mr McGrory says.

"If it wasn't for football, I probably would have been worse off," says Mr McGrory, who is now married with two children.

The lawyer asks him that as he got older - did he get involved in risk-taking behaviours and lose motivation for further education and work?

Mr McGrory replies: "Yes."

He is then asked because of what had happened to him in Omagh, "you just didn't care about life and had no goals".

He replied: "Not really no."

He says the news of Oran, Shaun and James's deaths hit him like a "tonne of bricks".

The lawyer for the inquiry then reads from Mr McGrory's statement...

"I was overcome with instant guilt because Shaun and I were the older ones and we were supposed to look after the younger boys.

"I just remember crying inconsolably, particularly because I knew the funerals had already taken place."

Mr McGrory says the bombing has changed his whole life, and that he and his best friend Shaun had been due to start secondary school together.

The injuries meant he had to delay starting school for a number of weeks.

He's asked by the inquiry's lawyer what he was told about his friends and the bombing when he was in hospital.

"I never got any answers," says Mr McGrory.

The lawyer asks if that was to protect him and he replies: "Yes."

He says he heard about his friends from the news.

"A nurse wheeled a TV in and put it on.

"I was on my own and Brian Kennedy was singing Danny Boy and that's when they were reading all the names.

"That's when I found out they were dead. I can't listen to that song any more."