EVERY parish in Ireland has single-issue activists trying to get a school extended or a new one built, others trying to establish proper facilities for children with special needs; some determined to provide respite care so the parents and siblings of children with physical or mental disadvantages can try to live like a normal family for a few hours every few weeks; others fighting to keep their accident and emergency facility open; others trying to establish the cancer screening services regarded as everyday-as-aspirins in a properly functioning, European democracy.