A teacher who refused to use a transgender student’s preferred pronouns has been jailed for a third time in Ireland for breaking a court order to stay away from the school.
Enoch Burke turned up at the Wilson’s Hospital School in Co Westmeath every school day since Aug 22, which the court heard was “disruptive” for both staff and pupils.
The evangelical Christian has already spent more than 400 days in jail over two separate stints for contempt, and been fined, after repeatedly breaching the injunction.
After the judge ordered he be returned to Mountjoy Prison in Dublin, Burke told him he would “have to answer to God”.
“This court is simply denying me my religious beliefs, and my right to my religious beliefs,” Burke said.
“I am a Christian. I have Christian beliefs. My belief is male and female, God made them male and female.”
He also claimed teachers were being “commanded to force transgenderism on students”.
Video footage shot by supporters of Burke and shared on social media showed him being arrested by Irish police at the school. In the footage, members of his family tell the officers that Burke has “broken no laws”.
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In separate, earlier footage, Burke’s father Sean tells four officers at his home that it was “an absolute disgrace” they had come to the address to arrest his son “because he won’t endorse transgenderism”.
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Mr Justice Michael Quinn adjourned the case for review on Oct 11. He said Burke could purge his contempt and secure his release at any time by simply signalling his intention to abide by the order.
Burke did not purge his contempt on the previous two occasions he was jailed. After his first 100-day stint behind bars, a judge released him.
He said Burke had been transformed from a teacher into a household name and was “exploiting his imprisonment for his own ends”.
Burke was jailed again in September 2023 and spent Christmas behind bars before being released in June this year.
The teacher was put on paid suspension by the school pending a disciplinary process begun after he confronted the principal in June 2022.
Burke, who teaches German and history, was furious after being told to call a transitioning student by their preferred name and the pronoun “they”.
Despite his suspension, he would turn up at the school for “meetings” or simply to sit in an empty classroom declaring he was ready to teach, which led to an injunction being sought and granted.
Burke is still being paid his salary after he appealed the school’s decision to sack him in January 2023 but has paid the €88,000 fines he incurred for breaking the court order.
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