Fergus Finlay: Mother and baby home report only first step towards justice

People who have long fought for the truth  should be given the power now, with whatever legal and technical support they need, to force the State to deliver on its long-overdue promises

A pair of girls' shoes on the railings of Bessborough House during a candlelight vigil. Picture: Howard Crowdy

I remember reading the Ryan Report, every single page of it. It took a long time, not just because it was so huge, but because I had to keep stopping for breath. Literally, I had to take a walk, clear my head, and try to come to terms with what I had just read.

I can still remember the anger, the desire almost, to strike out at the perpetrators of generations of abuse, the certainty that it would be impossible to ever make it right.