Newton's Optic: Newton Emerson scratches the surface and finds nit-picking has become a growth industry in Ireland.
Fionnuala Kilfeather, chief executive of the National Parents Council, has warned that bringing back school head-lice inspections to tackle the annual outbreak would be: "An invasion of personal privacy and an example of things being done to children rather than for them."
Olan McGowan, the disability rights campaigner, has criticised a road safety commercial showing a young man confined to a wheelchair, because it fails to acknowledge that: "People who endure spinal injuries can and do go on to lead very independent and fulfilled lives." Mona Lott of the Dundalk Community Resource Forum says both cases illustrate the unique difficulties faced by people in wheelchairs with head-lice.
"If you are in a wheelchair everyone is looking directly down at the top of your head," explained Ms Lott yesterday.
"However, there can be no suggestion of an advertising campaign or a health programme to address the problem, as that would be an invasion of fulfilled lives and an example of something being done, rather than not being done."
A member of the Travelling community in Kerry has had a complaint upheld at the Equality Tribunal against a supermarket which barred her after she became abusive to staff.
Mona Lott of the Dundalk Community Resource Forum says all three cases emphasise the terrible prejudice faced by abusive Travellers in wheelchairs with head-lice.
"There is a chronic shortage of supermarkets near halting sites with staff who don't mind being shouted at and which keep the head-lice products on shelves low enough for someone in a wheelchair to reach," explained Ms Lott.
"However there can be no suggestion of building more supermarkets with tougher staff and lower shelves, as that would be an invasion of independent retailing and an injury to personal endurance."
John Carr, general secretary of the Irish National Teachers' Organisation, has told a joint seminar on racism attended by colleagues from North and South of the Border that: "Intercultural education makes a valued contribution to the holistic development of children."
Mona Lott of the Dundalk Community Resource Forum says all four issues underline the particular problems confronting immigrant Traveller children with head-lice who do not live near supermarkets where the Equality Tribunal has ruled that staff must take abuse.
"Most of these children come from cultures where it is not acceptable to have head-lice or to be rude to people in shops, even if you live in a caravan," explained Ms Lott yesterday.
"However, there can be no suggestion of exploring this with children through holistic intercultural education, as that would be an independent contribution to the development of a spine."
Niall Harnett, an anti-war campaigner from Co Clare, has been charged with having an offensive weapon during a protest on the balcony of Shannon airport last Saturday. Mona Lott says all five stories highlight Shannon airport's blatant discrimination against immigrant Traveller peace activists in wheelchairs with head-lice.
"By the time they've found a space for their caravan in the long-stay car park, there's no way they can make it through immigration in time for the anti-war protest on the balcony, especially if they're too busy scratching their heads to press the button for the lift," explained Ms Lott yesterday.
"However, there can be no suggestion that possessing a weapon is incompatible with an anti-war point of view, as that would be an example of personal education in the fulfilment of someone not being injured."
Meanwhile in Belfast, the Ulster Defence Association has issued a statement deploring: "The political use of the police and army against the majority population of Northern Ireland."
The loyalist paramilitary group has also demanded: "A clear and unequivocal announcement from the British government that the Protestant community deserves the right to live in peace without the fear of suppression and containment."
Mona Lott of the Dundalk Community Resource Forum says: "Now, come on lads. Even I'm not falling for that one."