Wilson’s Hospital School, the former workplace of teacher Enoch Burke, has been awarded a quality mark for its efforts in LGBTQ+ “wellbeing and inclusion.”
The Belong To Quality Mark marks efforts across the past 18 months to promote LGBTQ+ families and identities through clubs and classroom activities. Schools work to re-train whole-staff teams in supporting LGBTQ+ students, and promote the representation of LGBTQ+ families and identities in classroom teaching.
The LGBTQ+ Quality Mark programme was developed by State-funded organisation Belong To in 2022, which received more than a million euros in state funding in 2023. Schools must complete an 18-month programme Belong To to receive the Quality Mark accreditation. Schools can apply to be part of the initiative, alongside Youthreach centres. Since 2022, over 100 Irish schools and centres have joined the voluntary programme to gain accreditation.
“This year, we are excited to partner with a limited number of additional post-primary schools and centres to support them in working towards achieving LGBTQ+ Quality Mark and ensure the wellbeing and inclusion of all students,” Belong To said earlier this month.
Schools were presented with the accreditation at a ceremony held at the Royal Marine Hotel in Dun Laoghaire, where 43 other schools and institutions received the Quality Mark. Over 250 staff and students from 17 counties attended the event at the hotel presented by social media influencer James Kavanagh.
Kavanagh has tweeted about Mr Burke, who was suspended from the school after objecting to calling a pupil by new pronouns, on a number of occasions, tweeting earlier this month:
“I think it’s utterly bizarre he managed to hang on to his salary thus far! About this he lost it! Absolute menace. Hope the fines bankrupt The Burkes and their American donors.”
The tweet, which sparked some backlash online, referred to a development in Mr Burke’s case which later saw the High Court appointing a receiver to collect unpaid fines from the salary of the teacher, which amounted to almost €80,000. An order was also granted this week to freeze Mr Burke’s bank account to try and retrieve the money owed.
During the event last week, CEO of Belong To, Meoninne Griffith, claimed that “homophobia, homophobia, biphobia and transphobia” remain a “significant challenge” for students, claiming that some 76 per cent of second-level students who identify as LGBTQ+ in Ireland feel “unsafe at school.”
Ms Griffith said she was proud that BelongTo had worked with the cohort of schools and Youthreach centres across the country to “make positive change and create safe spaces.”
“Every principal, coordinator, teacher and staff member has shown a huge level of commitment to fostering a truly inclusive environment in their school and to supporting all students in their care,” the head of Belong To added.
“I want to congratulate all for the actions that they have taken throughout the process and hope that they feel extremely proud to stand with the students and young people from their school or centre today, knowing what a huge impact their work has had and will continue to have on the lives of so many,” she said at the ceremony.
Gript previously reported that Belong To received €70,000 in government funding to promote the “LGBTQ+ Quality Mark for Schools”, despite the controversy surrounding the revelation that the State funded organisation produced a handbook for teachers and youth workers which specifically instructs those professionals to lie to parents/guardians about their children.
Concerns have previously been raised by young people who attended Belong To youth meetings, with one lesbian activist, Annaig Birdy, claiming in The Irish Independent that adults gave ‘weird’ advice to young teens, including how to hide chest binders from parents
Earlier this month, another former member criticised the 14-24 age grouping of Belong To youth meetings he attended as a 16 year-old, claiming that outside of the meetings, older members of the group would “befriend us and buy us alcohol.”
Mr Burke, who was suspended from Wilson’s Hospital School after he confronted the school’s former principal to voice his objection to transgenderism and the approach taken by the school regarding the student, has spent more than 400 days in prison for being in contempt of court.
In 2023, Gript reported on how emails between both parties included in the Court of Appeal’s ruling in the controversial case seemed to confirm that Mr Burke was told that he, and others, were obliged to refer to the transgender pupil using the pronoun “they”.
It has been denied that Mr Burke was being ‘forced’ to use “they” pronouns but the correspondence referred to in the rulings suggest otherwise, as Niamh Ui Bhriain reported.
“On 9th May 2022, the then principal of the school (hereinafter the “principal”) issued an email to staff, including the appellant, informing staff members that a student in the school would, with the support of the student’s parents, be making a transition in their gender identity from the next day,” the Court of Appeal explained.
A High Court judge ruled in early 2023 that Enoch Burke should pay a fine of €700 a day for each day that he continues to attend Wilson Hospital school in breach of the court injunction. Mr Burke appealed his dismissal by the school and remains on administrative leave.
Mr Burke’s case returns to court next Tuesday to allow the German and History teacher an opportunity to argue against the garnishee order which has been conditionally granted – allowing a creditor to seek payment of a debt from a third party who owes money to the debtor.