How do you solve a problem like the Burkes? People like myself, who are equally sceptical of the whole transgender fandango, are somewhat put off by the Burke saga. The carry on inside the court rooms for instance is the very definition of making a holy show of yourself.
But having said that, I did feel some sympathy for Simeon Burke, brother of Enoch Burke, when it was reported in the Irish Times that he was being shut out of the Law Library.
“Simeon Burke, a brother of Enoch Burke and a qualified barrister, has written to the chairman of the Bar council complaining that he is being “effectively shut out” of membership of the Law Library and his ambition to practise as a barrister before the courts. Mr Burke – who studied law at the University of Galway, Cambridge University, and the Honourable Society of King’s Inns; won prizes as a student; and was called to the Bar in first place in October 2023 – has been trying without success to find an established barrister to take him on as a pupil or “devil”, a necessary step for barristers who wish to appear before the courts.
The Law Library, which represents self-employed barristers, produces a “masters list” of practising barristers who are willing to take on “devils” for a year as part of the mandatory pupillage system run by the Law Library.
“Although I have been actively seeking to locate a master since October 2022 (emailing, calling and meeting with barristers whose names are on the masters list), I have not yet obtained a pupillage for the coming year,” he said.” Shocked I tell you. Shocked.
To understand this latest exciting twist in the tale of the Burkes, one must appreciate that the requirement for pupils to devil with a master makes the Law Library one of the last guilds on planet earth. You cannot practise as a barrister without doing pupillage with a Master. This period of training is unpaid (correct me if I am wrong, junior barristers). I don’t know if two years is normal to secure a master at the Irish bar but this seems unfair. (I went to England where the system is different in important ways. Two years looking for pupillage is standard; pupillage is paid and with a chambers, not a single barrister.)
Simeon Burke is a talented young man. He was called to the Bar in first place in 2023 which means he was top of the entire year, which could have numbered 150. His undergraduate degree is from UCG and I assume he secured a masters from Cambridge University. He also knows his way around the courtroom having successfully appealed a criminal conviction for a public order offence. That’s some great legal experience right there.
So I find it hard to believe that if his surname was not Burke, brother of Enoch Burke, he would not have secured a master by now.
The problem for Simeon of course is that he is Burke of The Burkes, that most people now recognise as the high-profile Evangelical family from the west of Ireland. If you are a senior barrister, do you really need this in your life? Do you really want to take this on? It could be argued that its understandable that all of them so far have said, thanks but no thanks.
But as I said at the beginning there is a sense of unfairness with this. If Simeon Burke cannot secure a master, it shuts him out completely from practising as a self-employed barrister at the Irish bar. There are not many other professions that operate such a closed shop upon entry.
Second it raises wider issues, such as purity tests that can cancel people before they have even started. It seems to me that Mr S Burke has been effectively cancelled from acting as a barrister as he is just too risky to take on or even be associated with. Has it been decided that he’s unclean?
In a bigger country, such as the US or UK this would not have occurred. Someone in Team Conservative would probably take the hit and look after one of their own, no matter how annoying. You can bet your bottom dollar that if this was happening in the US and Mr S Burke was going out on a limb for a left-wing issue (take your pick, there are plenty) if he was out there campaigning for little children to be given puberty blockers or surgery, he’d be feted by the left-wing media and left-wing activist establishment. They don’t have to be asked twice to look after one of their own. That’s what makes them so effective.
I do feel sorry for Simeon Burke who I think would make a pretty good barrister. Would I want him representing me, do I think he would go the extra mile, that mile sometimes labelled madness? Sure I would. He’s extreme, relentless, a dog with a bone. Isn’t that what you want in a barrister, to be relentless on your behalf?
But I also feel the Burke family should have been more patient and used their considerable talents to attain some seniority in the legal profession, and then make change from within. Sadly, for the whole family they are a cautionary tale in how not to effect change. That’s the real pity in this entire sorry saga.