The inquiry now moves on to the events of the 15 August 1998.

Claire explains that morning her mum and Alan were going into town to set up a bank account for Alan, in the event that he did not go back to school for A-levels and instead went to catering college.

His GCSE results were due three days after his murder.

Before he left the house that day, Alan ironed his t-shirt, ready for the day of shopping.

"I remember vividly him sitting putting on his white socks and Nike trainers, the sun was glorious coming through the window.

She told him to get his hair cut and "for God's sake, remember to buy gel".

His last words were "I love you. See you later".

She remembers watching Alan walking up the path, with their mum, but running back to tell her a joke.

It's a emotional recollection for Claire.

No woman would ever become a priority for Alan above his mum, Claire says.

As Alan got older, "nothing changed, he still went into town with his mummy, happily browsed the shops with her".

He carried the bags because his mother didn't drive.

"I don't know what other teenage boy at that age would do that. Alan was loyal to her, adored her," Claire says, crying.

Claire Hayes says that in the months leading up to Alan’s murder he was looking forward to getting away from high school and “starting afresh in the coming September”.

“He had a new spring in his step between his days cleaning for neighbours or cutting neighbours’ grass,” she adds.

“So selfless as always, Alan babysitting on Friday night for one of our neighbours.

“I had started to go out with friends to teenage discos in which Alan protested at the extra concern I was causing to our mother.

“Alan had indeed made it quite clear that I should be better behaved and stop my carry on.

“Alan was always laughing his head off when I got home, I always knew I was in deep waters with my mother and I really miss his laugh."

Claire talks about her brother's love of books, particularly Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice, which he had read front to back, again and again and he loved the 1995 BBC adaptation of the book.

He also loved books about emigration to the US - and often went to the Ulster American Folk Park to learn more.

He loved boats and, his next big obsession was the Titanic. "He knew every fact there was to know about it," she says.

Claire says her own son is also "obsessed with boats".

She spoke earlier about how similar the two are.

Alan also loved Northern Ireland's beautiful North Coast and Claire brings her children there on his anniversary.

Alan also loved the late Princess Diana and how she "connected with the public".

Claire and Alan shared the same group of friends, of a range of ages from different families.

Claire reads a statement from his friend Ciaran.

Ciaran says it was a shock and, for him, the question of why it happened "still remains".

"It was the first time someone so close to me had died," Ciaran's statement adds.

Another friend, Dean, a cousin of Ciaran's, got in touch with Claire recently and shared his memories.

"I think about him a lot and I miss him so much," his message said.

"He is not forgotten."

Alan was always laughing and had "such a light heart", Claire says.

Catherine Brown (née McIvor) is a dedicated friend and still visits Alan's grave, Claire says.

Claire then reads a statement from Catherine to the inquiry.

It says Alan had an "infectious zest for life and was "always finding joy in the smallest moments".

"His laughter was genuine, his curiosity was endless and he had a way of making the ordinary feel extraordinary.

"Alan's absence is felt every day and he will always be in my heart."

Image source, Omagh Inquiry

Alan had a "kind heart" and didn't understand violence or politics.

"To him it was just hatred and he wasn't the person to hold onto hate and to hate someone for the religion or race or colour," Claire says.

On Christmas Eve 1997, Alan and Claire, from a Protestant background, went to Midnight Mass with some friends.

"It was the most beautiful night, cold, crisp, but beautiful skies," Claire says. "I remember us sitting on the stairs because there were so many people.

"It showed how we were brought up. We were never brought up with hatred in our hearts. We were taught to respect and love everyone."

Claire Hayes says of all Alan's friends, Catherine Brown (née McIvor), was a particularly close friend.

She adds that Catherine and Alan were like brother and sister and would have “done anything for each other”.

“Catherine is a Catholic and she went to an all girls school and we went to Omagh High School, so Catherine her school was at the other end of Omagh town," she adds.

“Catherine would get herself early in the morning, get up and walk with us to the Campsie roundabout.

“Catherine in her St Brigid’s uniform would have walked through all of non-Catholic students coming in the opposite direction after her."

She says Catherine suffered "awful taunts" and Alan would have received "some of the same from students at school."

"It never deterred their friendship," she adds,

Ms Hayes says Alan had the "view of a human with a kind heart, that’s all that mattered, he didn’t understand the violence, he didn’t understand the politics, he didn’t want to understand it".

Alan wanted to improve the lives of other people and make their lives brighter, Claire says.

He had the same innocence as a newborn child.

Visibly tearful, she says she has not come across many people with a heart like his.

He loved music - and had "unique tastes" , from the BeeGees to Celine Dion to Boyzone.

"We found music a way to release what was going on inside if we couldn't speak," Claire says.

She says songs bring "great comfort but also great pain".

She believes there's a message in the songs - "I just know that's Alan speaking."

One song that Alan would play on repeat was 'No matter what' by Boyzone, which was sung on the day of his funeral.

Very emotional, Claire reads the lyrics to the song to the inquiry, which her mum asked to be written down.

Claire Hayes says her brother had suffered bullying at high school.

She says Alan had a sensitive nature and loved music, theatre and books.

She says her brother was subjected to “some vile abuse” and “extreme bullying”.

She says as a little sister, she was like a Jack Russell biting at the heels of the bullies on his behalf, but Alan told her not to worry.

“Alan wanted to heal the world, he wouldn’t let anybody try and defeat who he was as a person,” she adds.

“He was so valiant and he always said to me ‘Claire don’t worry, it will be okay’.”

After primary school, Alan went to Omagh High School and Claire followed the year after.

"There was never an Alan without a Claire or a Claire without an Alan," Claire tells the inquiry.

One teacher, Mrs Quigley, has since told Claire that when she heard the news of the bomb her thought was "Why Alan?"

Claire reads a statement from Mrs Quigley, submitted to the inquiry.

She says she had the "privilege" of being his year head for four years.

He was "pleasant, kind and helpful" and "a proper gentleman".

Alan, Mrs Quigley adds, was "prominent in environmental issues in the school" and worked to keep it clear of litter.

Mrs Quigley's statement quotes a tribute from the headmaster in August 1998, where he said it was "incomprehensible" that such a "pleasant, sociable young man should be taken from us".

A handwritten tribute from a friend in 1998 adds that his friends think of him every day.

In her written pen portrait, which is being read out by Alan's sister Claire, teacher Carol Porter also speaks about Alan's fear of the sight of blood and how he would faint easily at it, which worried her.

"After the bomb I wondering frequently if he had seen the horror of the bloodshed all around him.

"I would like to believe that he didn't".

Claire Hayes voice breaks as she reads the memories from her brother's teacher.

Carol Porter was pleased when Alan came back to her class on work experience.

She then goes on to explain the horrific effect the bomb had on her and the community.

"I will never forget going back to school 10 days after the bomb."

She walked into her classroom and broke down in tears, with memories of Alan, both as a primary school child and later, when he came back to on work experience.

"It will haunt and live with me forever. Alan was an amazing young man. He lives in my mind."

Claire Hayes says that talking to Alan's school teachers what they remembered was his "love of family" his "unique personality" and his kindness.

She adds that his smile was "infectious".

She says one of his teachers at Gibson Primary School, Carol Porter, had provided a pen portrait of Alan.

In that she describes Alan as being a “very special child”.

“There was an obvious love for his family and a good sense of humour,” she adds.

“He had many friends in school and was an active member of class.

“One thing I will always remember was his love of hoovers.

“He used to display his knowledge of hoovers and their workings and I used to joke that he could do my hoovering as well as helping his Mum.

“We had many a discussion and a laugh.”

Image source, Family picture

The lyrics of Michael Jackson's song 'Heal the world' were words Alan lived by, Claire says, and she still has a tape cassette of the song in her bedside drawer.

As a child, Alan had an unusual "fascination" with the hoover, Claire says, and as a baby he would crawl around after his mother when she used it.

He used to make hoover noises and even made his own hoovers out of cardboard boxes, she says.

As he got older, he was interested in how hoovers were made and different models that came out.

He had his "own wee quirks about him".

Some people did bully him as he got older, Claire says, because he was "unique and different and didn't follow the crowd".

Claire says Alan had "the purest heart, I would say a heart of gold".

"The clarity and innocence he had was like the purest form of a diamond you could ever get."

He was "loving" and "compassionate", she says.

"He had no malice, not a bad bone in his body and just wanted a better life not only for himself but for everybody around him."

Claire says she wasn't fully aware of the things Alan did on a daily basis to help people, until many got in touch after his murder.

"His compassion and endless love went beyond even our family. It radiated so far out of Alan."

He was "devoted" to helping people, helping by cooking dinners, cleaning houses and cutting their grass despite his hayfever.

Image source, Omagh Inquiry

Claire Hayes says her brother Alan was dedicated to his mother.

She says on the day of the bombing he had gone into Omagh with his mother.

She said he did shopping on a weekly basis with his mother “whereas other teenage boys would have been out with friends or mucking about the park”.

“Alan had so much dedication to my mother that he went every Saturday with her into the town to help her carry the shopping home," she adds.

“Mum didn’t drive, so Alan was there by her side every week.”

Image source, Family

Day two of the inquiry has just got underway at the Strule Arts Centre in Omagh.

Paul Greaney KC, senior counsel to the inquiry, says the hearing will begin by looking at the life of Alan Radford, who was just 16 when he was killed.

Alan's sister Claire Hayes will share her memories of Alan today and she sits in front of the microphone.

She says he was her "big brother" and they shared "everything in life".

"We would have had conversations every day after school to see how things went," she says.

Claire adds that "no man-made fibre or structure could ever create a bond" as strong as that between her mother and Alan.

"He did everything to help her," she says.

The stream has now begun from the inquiry at Strule Arts Centre.

To watch it click the play button at the top of the page.

We will also bring you text updates here.

Claire Hayes, who is due to pay tribute to her brother Alan this morning, says preparing for the inquiry has been "one of the hardest things I've done".

"To actually sit and put that pen to paper and the realisation that this is actually my life, this is what has happened," she says. "It took me months and months.

"Sleeping is non-existent more or less. I'm a wreck. I'm back to having severe nightmares. I'm very much still a 15-year-old girl."

Claire says she hopes the inquiry will provide a sense of closure but she adds that there needs to be "complete transparency" from the government in the Republic of Ireland.

Yesterday Taoiseach Micheál Martin said the Irish government will co-operate “fully” with the inquiry., external

"The Programme for Government repeats that commitment in no uncertain terms, stating plainly that we will “play our full part in legacy processes…including facilitating and supporting the Omagh Inquiry,” he says in a statement.