DUBLIN (LifeSiteNews) — A Christian teacher in an Irish school, fired for refusing to use transgender pronouns, has lost an appeal against court injunctions preventing him from attending his school.
Enoch Burke had his appeal rejected in Dublin’s Court of Appeal March 7, in a hearing which ended in members of the Burke family being ejected from the court, with one arrested and charged. His parents joined him for the results of his appeal, alongside his sister and two brothers, as Enoch challenged the court order which prevented him from entering the school in which he used to work.
Burke was a teacher of history and German in the Church of Ireland Wilson’s Hospital secondary school in Multyfarnham, Co Westmeath. Last year, he refused to comply with his school principal’s May 9 order to use a female name and pronoun for a male student who was in the process of “transitioning.”
He was then placed on paid, administrative leave on August 22 while the school board held a disciplinary process. After Burke ignored this and continued to attend the school, he was then handed an interim order on August 30 to prevent him from entering the school, which he also ignored.
The school authorities summoned the police and Burke was arrested for contempt of court on September 5 while sitting in an empty classroom in the school. He was sentenced to jail for an unspecified period of time, until he either purged his contempt of court or until the court decreed otherwise. However, days before Christmas he was released by the High Court after the judge argued that Burke was using his imprisonment for his own ends.
Burke had spent 108 days behind bars, but following his release the court warned that would be handed a daily fine of €700 if he refused to obey the court injunction barring him from the school.
At the time, Burke told reporters that the judge “wants to fine me for the profession of my religious beliefs.”
“What has become of us as a nation, to fine somebody for their religious beliefs?” Burke asked. “We’re at a time in this country where people are at their wit’s end, with the cost of everything as we know … and Brian O’Moore, a judge of the High Court, has sat down and said to himself that not only will you have to pay for all those things, but you now have to pay for your religious belief.”
Since then – January 26 – Burke has continued to show up at the school, with his subsequent fines now in excess of €29,000.
Rejecting Burke’s appeal on Tuesday, Justice Birmingham stated that the case was “not about transgender rights.”
However, at this point in the court proceedings members of the Burke family reportedly vocally disrupted the event by shouting at the judges. The judges left the bench for a brief time, but on their return additional disruption from the Burke family led to them being forcibly removed from the court room by police.
According to the Irish Times, members of the Burke family informed the judges that they were “prostrate at the altar of transgenderism.” Enoch’s sister was removed first, followed by his parents, prompting Enoch to call the police “thugs.”
Despicable actions by Gardai acting like bouncers, unlawfully ejecting Enoch Burke and his family at the Four Courts yesterday. Justice is being denied from Enoch rightfully defending himself against compelled speech. Sadly our great nation is controlled by authoritarians. 😞 pic.twitter.com/XbgN9qhKJN
— Ben Gilroy (@BenGilroyIRL) March 8, 2023
Enoch and his brother were then physically removed by a number of police. The court’s verdict was given online as a result.
In January, the school had issued a notice of dismissal to Burke. However, despite this and the court’s rejection of his appeal against the earlier injection, he has continued to arrive at the school after Tuesday’s proceedings.
Enoch’s brother Simon was later charged with “threatening, insulting and abusive words and behavior” after his actions at the court house on Tuesday.