An Irish teacher who refused to address a student with female pronouns will have to spend Christmas in prison. He has already spent more than 500 days in jail.
Enoch Burke has been detained in Mountjoy Prison since late November for breaching a court order prohibiting him from entering the premises of Wilson’s Hospital School in County Westmeath, where he worked as a teacher.
He Did Not Follow the Principal’s Instructions
He has been in a legal dispute with the school’s board since 2022, when the then-principal demanded that he address a particular student by a new name and female pronouns. Since then, Burke has repeatedly entered the school grounds in violation of court orders.On Wednesday, he was brought before the High Court in Dublin, where he was heard on several matters related to the specific dispute, reports the Daily Mail. At the start of the hearing, Judge Brian Cregan warned Burke, who was accompanied by his father and one of his brothers, that if there were any interruptions from his family members, he would order everyone to leave the courtroom, as he would not tolerate further disruptions.
Teacher Insists He Is Behind Bars Due to Religious Beliefs
Burke was urged by the judge to stop disregarding the court and commit to no longer setting foot on school property. The teacher does not acknowledge that he is in prison for disobeying the court, but rather for his religious beliefs related to transgenderism. Burke insisted that he has a clear conscience and that he respects the country’s laws. The judge described his claims as nonsensical and added that the court does not use the “language of Alice in Wonderland.”The judge told Burke that he has been disregarding the court for a long time, most recently when he failed to respect a court order that he was not even challenging. He emphasised that he has a constitutionally guaranteed right to religious freedom and that he was dismissed for gross misconduct. According to the judge, he would not have spent a single day in prison if he had stayed outside the school gates. Burke insisted that the reason for his suspension was his refusal to follow the principal’s instructions. The judge agreed that the entire dispute began there, but that disregarding the court is a separate issue related to the injunction prohibiting entry to the school grounds.The judge told the former teacher that from now on, he would be treated like anyone else who disrespects the court.
He emphasised that such defendants are not released for Christmas or Easter, and added that he did not know why Burke had “in the past received this preferential treatment.” He said that the court may have previously believed that “common sense would prevail during the holidays.”In response, Burke said that he had never asked for special treatment or a Christmas gift, but only for the court to speak the truth and not to mock God. The judge described his statements as exaggerated. Burke now intends to appeal to the Supreme Court, as he wants to challenge the Court of Appeal’s judgment in relation to the dispute.
He Will Not Renounce His Christian Beliefs
The legal battle erupted in 2022 when Burke publicly confronted the principal at a school event in June, attended by staff, as well as parents and former and current students. The school in County Westmeath sought a court injunction prohibiting him from attending or teaching. However, Burke continued to come and occupy his workplace in an empty classroom, according to lawyers representing the school. Burke was arrested and later imprisoned after Judge Michael Quinn ruled that he had violated the court order prohibiting him from attending the school. At that time, the teacher told the court that he would not address the child as instructed, as it would not be in accordance with his conscience. “It is madness that they will take me from this courtroom to prison, but I will not renounce my Christian beliefs,” the former teacher insisted, according to The Sun.”I am a teacher and I do not want to go to prison. Today I want to be in my classroom, where I was that morning when they arrested me,” Burke had previously told the judge, adding that he loves the school, which operates under the motto “actions, not words,” but he cannot refer to a boy with female pronouns.
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