DavidHarrisJr had this on IG today which shows the most recent confrontation and arrest: This recent arrest is because he returned to his teaching post after a court order demanding he not return just to clarify the fact vs what DJH is saying was the reason for his actual arrest Monday evening in Ireland. Prayers up for Enoch Burke.
Enoch Burke: Irish teacher in transgender row jailed for third time
The teacher was arrested at Wilson’s Hospital School in County Westmeath after refusing to abide by a court order instructing him to stay away.
Stephen Murphy – Ireland correspondent for NewsSky
A teacher at the centre of a row over a transgender student has been sent to prison for a third time by a Dublin court.
Enoch Burke was arrested by Irish police at Wilson’s Hospital School in County Westmeath today on Monday refusing to abide by a court order instructing him to stay away.
The school board had dismissed Burke from his post after a dispute over his refusal to recognise a transgender student’s new identity.
Burke was brought to the High Court in Dublin on Monday evening, where a judge ruled that he was in breach of the existing court order, and was to be returned to Mountjoy Prison.
Burke accused the court of denying him his religious rights, which included his belief in two genders, male and female. “This is a mockery of justice,” he told the judge.
The ruling was met with an outburst of argument from members of the Burke family present.
Enoch Burke was suspended by Wilson’s Hospital School in August 2022 after a public confrontation with the then-principal. The deeply religious teacher had objected to using the new name and the “they” pronoun of a student who wanted to change gender.
Despite his suspension, Burke continued to attend the school. An injunction was granted by a judge, preventing Burke from going to Wilson’s Hospital.
This was breached by the teacher, and he was jailed in September 2022 for contempt of court. He spent three months in Dublin’s Mountjoy Prison before being released, but was jailed again in September 2023 after repeatedly showing up at the school.
Burke was told by the court that he would be released if he simply promised to abide by the order, and stay away from the school, but he chose not to do so.
The case was highly publicised in Ireland, dividing opinion between those who felt Burke’s constitutionally-guaranteed religious freedom was being oppressed, and those who thought his behaviour, in school and in court, was unacceptable.
Images of Burke standing outside the school, leather satchel over his shoulder, became the subject of memes. International attention was brought to bear, as the teacher became a lightning rod for culture wars being waged in the United States, the UK and elsewhere.
The teacher was held up as a martyr by many right-wing “anti-woke” commentators, although Burke himself never sought to portray himself as such.