Enoch Burke jailed for a third time for breaching court order to stay away from Westmeath school
Enoch Burke was arrested by Gardaí on Monday after a judge ordered that he must appear before the High Court for breaching an injunction to stay away from Wilson's Hospital school in Westmeath
Transgender row teacher Enoch Burke has been jailed for a third time for breaching a court order to stay away from a school that he was sacked from last year.
Mr Burke has been showing up each day at Wilson's Hospital School in Multyfarnham, Co Westmeath, since it opened its doors for the new school term late last month.
However, he was arrested by Gardaí on Monday after a judge ordered that Mr Burke must appear before the High Court for breaching an injunction to stay away from the school. He has now been committed again to Mountjoy Prison, where he has already spent over 400 days, until he purges his contempt.
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Mr Burke was initially suspended from the school in the summer of 2022 following his reaction to being asked to call a transitioning student by a new name and the pronoun ‘they’ – something he said was against his religious beliefs. He was subsequently sacked from the school in January 2023, but he has appealed the dismissal and remains on full pay pending the hearing of the appeal.
Speaking to the Irish Mirror at the school last week, a defiant Mr Burke insisted he would continue to turn up there as “this is where I work”. However, he admitted that he hated his time locked up in Mountjoy Prison.
When asked what his time in prison was like he said: “I detest prison. It’s a horrible, sad place. It’s a terrible place to be behind a door for 18 hours a day. But the issue is, prison is for people who break the law, and in this case, I’m here doing my moral duty. This is where I should be today. I’m standing up for my rights, for what I believe in. This isn’t a crime. It’s not an offence being here. It’s my moral duty to be here.
“Because it would be wrong for me for one moment to accept that I do not have God-given rights, that I do not have rights, including the right to my beliefs as everyone in this country has. And what it’s about that it’s about transgenderism. It’s about a belief.
“I am entitled to my religious belief, and I was told by the principal that I wasn’t allowed to have that religious belief anymore. That’s what it’s about.”
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