Enoch Burke has said he was “mobbed” by students offering their support to him and seeking his autograph while he continued his campaign outside his former workplace on the last day of the school term.
A year has now passed since Mr Burke, a History and German teacher, was suspended from Wilson’s Hospital School, a Church of Ireland co-educational boarding school in County Westmeath, where he had been teaching for four years.
His suspension followed Mr Burke’s refusal to call a student at the school by a new name, and use the ‘they/them’ pronoun, as requested. At a school church service, Mr Burke confronted the school’s principal to voice objections over transgenderism and the approach adopted by the school.
As a result of his behaviour towards the school’s [now former] principal Niamh McShane, he was suspended. On 30 August, the school was granted a High Court interim injunction stopping him from teaching classes there or being on the school grounds during his suspension..
Speaking to The Sunday Times outside the school last week as he continued his solidarity campaign outside his former workplace, Mr Burke showed no indication that he was abandoning his protest. His persistence comes despite the fact he has now racked up just under €90,000 in fines – after the High Court imposed a daily fine of €700 on January 27 for every time the former teacher was in breach of his order to stay away from the school grounds.
He spoke of a “stream of support” from students, and even claimed senior students had asked him for autographs and photos.
“In the last few weeks, there has been a stream of support and students wanting to come over.
“I was mobbed by some senior students wanting me to sign their shirts, wanting autographs, wanting pictures and wishing me well.
“I think it’s very regrettable in our country that children have a greater conscience and a greater grasp of right and wrong than the judge in the chair that’s getting paid €250,000. I think that’s a very sad state for our country to be in,” he said.
In a separate address given to a Sunday Times reporter outside the school last week, Mr Burke defended his actions to date. Recalling the events of the last year, which have seen his case snowball into courtroom chaos and unrelenting press coverage, he insisted he had a right to raise his objections in the manner he did:
“I’ve been teaching at the school for four years, and there came a day in May – on the 10th May last year – where I was asked, I was demanded, by Principal Niamh McShane, in an email to all staff, to call a student by a new name and the they/them pronoun,” he said.
“I was asked to do that. I said I could not do that. I objected to that demand, and I said I couldn’t do that – I made that very clear the next day in an email, and in a staff meeting, and later on then, in a meeting in the chapel service. I had every right to do that, and this is what has led to this year”.
🔺NEW: Enoch Burke says he’s been ‘mobbed’ by supportive students seeking autographs
🧵https://t.co/X0P8fPLnx7 pic.twitter.com/DTTWIYRCMA
— The Sunday Times Ireland (@ST__Ireland) June 4, 2023
Mr Burke’s claims of solidarity from students at the school come after the student council previously gave a letter to the history and politics graduate informing him that its members felt that his continued presence at the school was causing disruption and negatively impacting on students’ learning.
Burke, from Castlebar in County Mayo, could be seen in the interview offering a wave and a nod to the driver of a passing car who beeped at him as he drove through the school gates.
The former teacher also used the opportunity to insist his religious and moral convictions were the key motivation behind his behaviour throughout the whole saga.
He insisted that his teaching record was “unblemished” and that Wilson’s Hospital School remains as his place of work.
“I have a right to that belief,” he told The Times.
“I have a right to the belief that I expressed, as does everyone in this country have a right to that belief, and that’s all I have to say at the moment. It’s very simple. That’s why I’m here, that’s why I’m at school today,” he said.
The Sunday Times said that Wilson’s Hospital School did not respond to requests for comment over Mr Burke’s assertions.
Taking to Twitter over the last few days, Mr Burke hit out at the Irish media – accusing Virgin Media and The Independent of failing to give an “accurate reflection” of comments he has provided to those outlets during his protest outside the school.
He said the portion of the clip used by Virgin Media was “edited and heavily cut so as to only include a tiny portion of what was said.”
“This is not the first time this has happened,” he went on. “And the public should know that what they hear from the media is not what is said or what has happened in court proceedings”.
A defiant Mr Burke, dressed in a blue shirt, went on to blast “journalism that omits the most important facts or puts a different colour on things” – describing it as “very serious for the nation”.
“If the public are not getting a full account of the facts when they open their paper or listen to the radio or turn on their screens, then this is a serious failure of duty of journalists”.
Thanking those who have shown him support, Mr Burke went on to release his own recordings of interviews which he gave to Virgin Media and The Times last week, on the day the school year drew to a close.
If what the public read in newspapers is not an accurate reflection of what is said it represents a serious failure of duty by the media.
On last day of school I spoke to journalists at school gate (Virgin Media & Independent). See full interview with Virgin Media & Times below. pic.twitter.com/6HKBcaulvy— Enoch Burke (@EnochBurke) June 3, 2023
In May, a High Court judge ruled that Mr Burke was lawfully suspended from his teaching position. Mr Justice Alexander Owens also ruled that the school was entitled to a permanent injunction against Mr Burke.
The judge also announced damages of €15,000 for the sacked teacher’s continuing presence at the school, in addition to his daily fines of €700, imposed in January. Justice Owens ruled that the school’s decision to suspend Mr Burke was “rational and reasonable”.