Enoch Burke – who taught history and German refuses stoutly to refer to a transitioning transgender student as ‘they‘ rather than ‘he‘.
Now he remains in Dublin’s Mountjoy Prison with no prospect of release because he refuses to comply with a court order to stay away from his former school premises.
His stubborn refusal has seen him jailed for repeatedly showing up to Wilson’s Hospital School in Co. Westmeath after being sacked.
Meanwhile, Burke’s loyal family continue to protest at the school, maintaining persecution for his Christian beliefs – while supporters insist the whole ‘country is behind him‘.
However, others view his stubborn refusal and his family’s protests as attention seeking, with one newspaper stating the Burkes ‘like to get their own way‘.
The row broke out more than a year ago, when during a meeting, Burke said that his Evangelical Christian beliefs meant he ‘opposed transgenderism‘.
Burke publicly criticised the headteacher’s ‘demand‘ that staff use students’ chosen pronouns, following a service to celebrate its 260th anniversary
Burke was accused of ‘breaching the confidence‘ of the transitioning student before he was suspended with pay and later fired for gross misconduct in August last year.
However, Burke continued to show up prompting a court order for him to stay away but in September last year, Burke was jailed for 100 days for breaching the order.
In August last year, Enoch was sued by the school for his failure to comply with the court order and later arrested for being in contempt of court.
The former teacher has been imprisoned in Mountjoy since September 8th and has been participating in court hearings via video link.
In November, Burke’s father Sean and brother Isaac were physically removed from the Court of Appeal for interrupting Justice John Edwards.
Last week, Burke’s mother Martina and sister Ammi were removed from the Court of Appeal after they began shouting at barristers and the judge upon entry.
The pair demanded that Eoin Lawlor BL – who is acting as the counsel for the Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission – leave the courtroom.
On top of this, they accused the court of ‘making a fool‘ of Enoch and said it was ‘corrupt‘ that the teacher had to contribute via video-link while Lawlor was present.
Last night, Burke’s family protested outside the Wilson’s Hospital School, which was hosting their annual carol concert.
His mother held a sign: ‘Enoch Burke stood for school ethos and is in Mountjoy for Christmas.’ His brother’s sign read: ‘Enoch Burke jailed for his Christian belief.’
‘Christmas in Mountjoy for Christian teacher,’ his father’s sign read.
