The chairman of the Omagh inquiry has contrasted the life of a teenage charity volunteer killed in the 1998 atrocity, with the bombers responsible for her murder.
Alan Turnbull was speaking following a commemorative statement which remembered Samantha McFarland.
The 17-year-old volunteered in an Oxfam charity shop in Omagh.
It was evacuated during the alert which preceded the bombing, and Samantha was killed alongside her best friend Lorraine Wilson, who also worked in the shop.
Mr Turnbull said he had been touched to hear of the joy and kindness that Samantha had brought to those who knew her.
"One really has to wonder whether there could be any greater contrast between the generous and socially minded attitude of a teenager who chose to spend the precious spare time of her young years trying to help those with less advantages than herself, and, on the other hand, the morality of those who would walk away from a car loaded with explosives in the middle of the main street on a sunny Saturday afternoon, in the sure knowledge that devastation would ensue shortly afterwards."
The inquiry heard Samantha had been studying at Strabane College at the time of her death, having left Omagh High School.
She was said to have had a "lovely personality", a girl with a kind heart that people were drawn to.
On the day of the explosion she and her friend had been told to leave the Oxfam shop where they were volunteering.
The inquiry heard Samantha had not wanted to go too far as she had the keys to the shop.
Omagh inquiry: The victims remembered
Statements by the adult children of Sean McGrath were read into the record.
The 61-year-old businessman sustained serious injuries and died in hospital almost three weeks after the explosion.
His daughter Noeleen said her father was "considerate, gentle, kind to a fault".
She described him as "slow to anger". The only thing that made him cross was injustice, she said.
His sons Conor and Gavin also provided statements.
Conor said the family continued to feel the loss of a good man.
"Every anniversary picks at the scar. Maybe not as raw, but still not healed and I doubt that it ever will."
Mr McGrath only got to know one of his grandchildren, Sara.
The inquiry was shown a family video of him playing with the little girl.
Gavin McGrath said the family still struggled to contemplate the "horrendous day" of the bombing and had tried not to face it.
"If we don't open the wound, we can't feel the pain. It's not what is recommended by experts but it's literally the only way we can all deal with it.
"My father was a wonderful man and deserved to live his life to the full and for it to end naturally, just as all humans have the right to expect.
"I love my dad and I miss him every day," the statement concluded.
The inquiry also heard about Elizabeth 'Libby' Rush who was killed in the bomb.
Her husband Laurence was an active campaigner in calling for a public inquiry.
Mr Rush died in 2012 at the age of 70.
Their daughter, Siobhán O'Neill, said her parents were "soulmates" who first met at a dance when they were both 14 years old.
She said her mother worked at a shop on Market Street in Omagh and was known for her "discretion and gentle nature".
"She was respectful to others, wise, compassionate and thoughtful. More than anything else, Libby loved her family with every bone in her body," she said in a statement on behalf of herself and her brothers, Andrew and Anthony.
After her mother's death, she told the inquiry her father sought answers on why his wife had been killed but was "met with a wall of silence".
She said that "even friends and extended family avoided the subject", but that her father was "undeterred".
"We understand that this culture of silence is a method of coping, but also the external role of silence is a form of paramilitary and state control of our communities.
"Our father Laurence Rush was unable to stay silent, because he knew that silence was a lie."
She said that her father "demanded accountability and transparency" and "relentlessly confronted all" out of love for his wife, Libby.
"We believe the Omagh bomb was a crime against humanity. We believe there were policies in place to ignore or deescalate any tensions that could prompt changes in the current narrative.
"We believe our father's quest for the truth exposed the atrocity as a premeditated war tactic.
"Experiencing 30 years of war and conflict, retaliation and the cycle of violence, we believe until we address the root causes and social injustices, we will never see resolution.
"Peace will never prevail. Our children will continue to be enemies, divided by the inaccuracies in their history," she added.
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