Teacher who refused to call transitioning student a girl blasts ‘insanity’ as he’s jailed

A TEACHER who refused to call a transitioning pupil a girl has blasted the "insanity" as he was jailed.

Enoch Burke was put behind bars for contempt of court after he continued to attend Wilson's Hospital School, an hour outside of Dublin, in a row over a student's gender pronouns.

The teacher had been issued with an injunction and told not to attend the school after a public confrontation with the principal over a student who was seeking to transition.

Mr Burke said he had been asked by the school to address a student by a different name and use the pronoun “they” when referring to them.

The court heard Burke objected to this, claiming a belief system was being forced on students and he could not agree with transgenderism.

The teacher told the court that referring to the child as “they” was “something I will not do” adding it would “violate my conscience”.

And the teacher has now been taken to Mountjoy prison in Dublin after Judge Michael Quinn ruled he he breached a court order to not attend the school.

Speaking as he was jailed, Burke said: "It is insanity that I will be led from this courtroom to a place of incarceration, but I will not give up my Christian beliefs."

He had earlier told the judge: "I am a teacher and I don't want to go to prison. I want to be in my classroom today, that's where I was this morning when I was arrested.

"I love my school, with its motto Res Non Verba, actions not words, but I am here today because I said I would not call a boy a girl."

The court had been told Burke publicly confronted the principal at a school event in June, attended by staff, parents and pupils, past and present.

He continued to approach the principal - and question her after she told him she would speak to him at an appropriate time - until others stood between them.

The teacher will now remain in prison until either the court sets him free or he “purges his contempt”.

Judge Michael Quinn said he was satisfied Burke was guilty of contempt by disobeying a court order.

The move follows an application on Friday by a Co Westmeath school to have the teacher locked up for breaching an injunction.

That injunction prevented him from attending or teaching at Wilson’s Hospital School.

But he kept arriving and taking up his post “in an empty classroom,” the school’s lawyers said.

He was arrested by gardai at the property today in Multyfarnham, taken to court and then to jail.

The board of management began a disciplinary process and Burke was put on leave but continued to attend the school.

He continued to attend for his timetabled hours, even after the High Court granted an injunction directing him not to do so.

On Friday, the school was granted an order directing gardaí to arrest Burke and bring him before the High Court after the judge was told Burke was on the premises sitting in an empty classroom.

His father Sean and brother Isaac were also present in court.

Rosemary Mallon BL for the school said no one was seeking to punish Mr Burke but wanted him to agree to the injunction.

The case is set to continue on Wednesday.