The Omagh Bombing Inquiry is examining whether the single worst atrocity of the Troubles could have been prevented
Twenty-nine people, including a woman expecting twins, were murdered in the Real IRA attack on 15 August 1998
This is the fourth week of hearings
Rodney recalls asking Margaret what time it was and that she said it was approaching 3pm.
He then said to her it was such a nice day that we couldn't wait to get home and get out for a run or a cycle.
He said to her he would put off the haircut so we could be outside in the nice day.
She replied that she might close the salon.
Everyone was just talking, Rodney says.
It was "normal, every day talk".
"It was peaceful and the sun was shining. It was the most lovely afternoon."
Rodney says he was told to stay put by a police officer and that he and Margaret were standing about 40 feet away from the car bomb.
So he says they sat on a window ledge and were talking.
He says police started to put white tape across the road, near the SuperValu.
A police man told him to stay where he was in case the bomb was real, so they weren't allowed under the tape.
Margaret also asked if she could get out to get her car, but she was told to stay.
Rodney says that he and his hairdresser Margaret left her shop.
He says that he and Margaret had been friends for many years and are still friends.
Rodney says he had just sat down in the hairdressers chair when a policeman ran into and told them there was a bomb scare.
He says he had been in bomb scares before but says this one "felt rushed" and felt "real".
Image source, Omagh Bombing InquiryRodney Patterson remembers the day of the bombing as a beautiful sunny day.
The inquiry is how hearing from Rodney Patterson.
He says he remembers the day of the bombing as a beautiful sunny day.
He says he went to Omagh to buy a bike and get his hair cut
Simon concludes his evidence by saying that the day of the bombing will haunt him for the rest of his life.
Simon says the people who carried out the bombing live in communities with families and friends "who obviously know they were involved in some way".
But "no one has come forward" and they are "protected in the communities they live in".
"I can't understand that."
Simon is now being asked about the hoax calls suggesting there was a bomb in the aftermath of the bombing.
"They were constant," he says.
He recalls one when he was sitting in mass and a police officer came into the church and told them they had to leave.
"It struck me that nothing is sacred to these people."
The bombers "seem to have done it with impunity", Simon says, and several have "lived out their lives and never had to face justice".
"I find that very difficult to accept".
Simon's statement says he often wished it had been him killed rather than one of the children.
Simon says he feels angry towards the bombers and that they have "evaded justice".
He also feels angry about how victims were treated by politicians, the government and the police.
He adds that he feels "guilty for managing to walk away uninjured" when so many children were injured or lost their lives.
Counsel to the inquiry is now reading from Simon's statement in which he says he could not walk up Market Street and avoided the town centre.
"I would have nightmares about what I had seen."
The statement says he felt guilt about not being able to help.
Simon says he often asked himself why he survived uninjured when he was so close to the bomb.
Some of Simon's girlfriend's friends were injured in the bomb and people she knew were killed.
"It did have a deep impact on us all."
Simon says he saw terrible things that day.
"I probably have PTSD but I never got officially diagnosed," he says.
It affected his confidence and he suffered from depression and "an enormous sense of guilt".
He says he and his girlfriend returned home late at night and there was a "constant drone of helicopters" overhead.
He says the events of the day played on his mind.
He says he realised his ears were ringing and they continued to do so for days afterwards.
Shortly after this, Simon's girlfriend's mother and father arrived and took them to their home.
"They were very glad to see us."
Simon contacted his parents and let them know he was okay.
He says a young man came to the door of the neighbour's house asking to borrow their car to try to find his sister whom he assumed was injured and at hospital.
He says the neighbour and the young man headed off.