Yesterday, the Board of Management of a secondary school in Co Westmeath secured a temporary injunction from the High Court to prevent a teacher from attending at its premises or from teaching any classes while he remained suspended from his position at the school.
Enoch Burke, a teacher at Wilson’s Hospital Church of Ireland secondary school, is currently on paid administrative leave pending the outcome of an ongoing disciplinary process, the court heard.
However, he has not been sanctioned and no finding against him was upheld by the school to date. The injunction was granted on an ex-parte basis: Mr Burke was not reported to be present in the court.
Mr Burke has strongly and publicly objected to the school’s direction that he must address a student – who wishes to change sex – using the pronouns “they” and by a different name than was previously used.
While some commentators have insisted the school is taking the correct action, many of those posting on social media yesterday argued that Mr Burke should not be compelled by the school to use speech he did not believe to be true.
"Mr Burke, it is claimed objected to this, has questioned the school's position, says that a belief system is being forced on students, and that claims that the schools request amounts to a breach of constitutional rights."https://t.co/6GRRqQoNQ5
— Women's Space Ireland (@WomensSpaceIre) August 31, 2022
Several said that ‘woke’ culture had gone too far.
Well done this man, this wokeness is gone way to far
— Kcallo (@kcallo2013) August 30, 2022
One commentator said that a teacher should not be compelled to use what amounted to “bad grammar” – using “they”, a plural pronoun, to refer to a person.
“A madness is taking over. Moreover, Mr Burke is a TEACHER. A teacher does not teach bad grammar, as in “they has a problem” just because a student with a problem wants to be referred to using a plural pronoun.”
The word "they" is plural.
It remains plural even if one uses it in a singular – and therefore ungrammatical – sense.
Teachers and schools should be neither using nor teaching bad grammar.
— Tony Allwright (@tallrite) August 31, 2022
Another woman wrote: “I’m a lifelong educator and I agree with him – the singular “they” is infuriating on a number of levels.”
An individual can not be addressed in a plural form of ‘they/them’. This is not a religious issue alone but a matter of sanity vs insanity. https://t.co/0WOxEsCfUL
— Walk Tall (@DrCollins10) August 30, 2022
Some responses focused on the nature of what the school was requiring of Mr Burke.
“The school denies Mr Burke is being ‘forced’ to refer to the student as ‘they’. But then says “it expects him to communicate with the student in accordance with the students wishes. Is ‘expects’ the functional equivalent of ‘force’ here?”
https://twitter.com/Mullins77David/status/1564657294507474945
Responding, Gerard Casey, a Professor (emeritus) of Philosophy in UCD said: In English, we don’t ???????????????????????????? another person in the 3rd person; we ???????????????????? to them in the 3rd person. As pronouns substitute for nouns, there’s no reason, practicality apart, why another person might not be referred to by name, Gwendolyn or Cecil, as the case may be.”
“What is the difference between forcing him to obey their diktat, and suspending him if he refuses to obey it?” he added.
Others also took issue with the school’s insistence that it was not compelling Mr Burke to use preferred speech.
“The school denied to Mr Burke in correspondence that anyone is being “forced” to do anything.’ Evidently he is being forced!” one woman wrote.
“Perhaps you can enlighten us about what being “non-binary” entails? As its of such crucial importance to society that good teachers are being persecuted for not complying with non-binary demands,” wrote another.
“The man clearly has certain beliefs and principles he wishes to stand by and he clearly sees where all this nonsense is heading. The pronoun issue should not be forced on people. If someone wants to be known as ‘they’ so be it but this man’s beliefs should be respected too imo,” another woman added.
Podcaster Eddie O’Sullivan asked : “Is this the first case of compelled speech in Ireland?”
Several feminists and mothers took a strong stance in support of Mr Burke. “100% support this teacher and so should every parent with a child in school. You’re kids will become the most confused and mentally ill generation to date if you allow this ideology to be thought in our schools,” wrote one mum.
However, others argued that Mr Burke had allegedly interrupted a service marking an anniversary for the school to argue the case with the school authorities, and that the school was right to take a stand.
Very happy to see this school supporting their student and refusing to be intimidated, they’re leading the way. 👏🏳️⚧️
— Rory Codd (@rorystephencodd) August 30, 2022
“I know some people cannot comprehend that not everyone is the same. But schools have to respect a person’s right to self determination and identification. Thankfully the majority are in favour of respect not dictating that people must conform to certain ideas. The School is right,” another said.