Irish teacher Enoch Burke has been jailed for a THIRD time after being arrested outside school when he was sacked for refusing to ‘call a boy a girl’

Irish teacher Enoch Burke has been jailed for the third time after being arrested outside the school where he was sacked for refusing to ‘call a boy a girl’.

The evangelical Christian was put into a Garda vehicle outside Wilson’s Hospital School in County Westmeath yesterday and driven to the Four Courts in Dublin, the Irish Independent.

Last night he was back in Mountjoy Prison after serving more than 400 days there, having repeatedly ignored a High Court order barring him from school grounds.

Judge Michael Quinn sentenced him to prison for contempt of court after the history and German teacher refused to answer ‘yes’ or ‘no’ when asked whether he planned to return to the school in Westmeath.

When the order was given, Mr Burke told Judge Quinn: ‘You will have to answer to God for imprisoning me because of my religious beliefs.’

Irish teacher Enoch Burke has been jailed for a third time after being arrested outside the school where he was sacked for refusing to ‘call a boy a girl’. (Mr Burke is pictured here arriving at the Court of Appeal in Dublin in February 2023)

Mr Burke will leave court in June 2024 with members of his family following his release from prison

Mr Burke, who was only released from prison in June, was dismissed from the school in January 2023 for serious misconduct. He refused to use the new name of a student who was transitioning, choosing the pronoun “they”, saying it conflicted with his religious beliefs.

Despite his dismissal, a court heard in February that he was still being paid his salary, pending his appeal against the school’s decision to fire him. At the time, he had been paid around €72,000 while still on administrative leave.

Judge Quinn sThere was an ‘urgent need’ for him to address the problems being experienced by Wilson’s Hospital School due to Mr Burke’s continued presence there.

He said Mr Burke was disrupting the daily activities and duties of the teachers and staff at the school.

During the hearing, he and his family protested that the many judges who heard the case had failed to take into account a report by then-school principal Niamh McShane.

Mr Burke said Ms McShane alleged he was guilty of serious misconduct for refusing to address a transferring student by a new name and the pronoun “they”. He said the legality of that requirement was never considered by the court.

However, last year, Judge Owens ruled that the school was right to suspend Mr Burke due to fears of “harmful and disruptive behaviour”.

He brought up Mr. Burke’s challenge to the director at a staff meeting, a chapel service, and at a dinner.

Mr Burke yesterday maintained: ‘This court is simply denying my religious beliefs, and my right to my religious beliefs. I am a Christian. I have Christian beliefs. My beliefs are male and female, God made them male and female.’

He cited passages from the Bible, including Genesis and the Gospel of Matthew, and claimed that teachers in Ireland were being “taught to impose transgenderism on students”.

Mr Burke pictured at the gates of Wilson’s Hospital School in 2023. He has repeatedly ignored a High Court order banning him from the school grounds

Enoch Burke’s mother, father, sister and brother protested outside Ballinrobe Community School in November on the day the school was visited by Education Minister Norma Foley.

He called this a “hellish ideology” that led to children taking puberty blockers and being “scarred for life.”

He said his religious beliefs would not lead children “down the path of suicide, mutilation, regret” and a broken relationship with their parents.

“I didn’t force my beliefs on anyone,” he said. “Those beliefs were forced on me. I was given the task of feeding that poison to the young people in my care.”

The court heard that Mr Burke had failed to pay the €88,000 fine he was given for attending the school, despite a court order last year.

Rosemary Mallon BL, speaking for the school, confirmed there had been ‘difficulties’ in collecting them.

She said the law allows a collection agency to collect fines imposed by the court, but asset seizure is more often used against businesses than individuals, and there is no easy way to do that.

She confirmed that Mr Burke continues to receive his salary from the Department for Education, while his appeal against his dismissal in January 2023 is still pending.

The court was told that the appeal cannot be heard until the Court of Appeal has ruled on Mr Burke’s complaint regarding the members of the Appeals Board.

Enoch Burke is removed by Gardaí on January 25, 2023 after following a bus through the school gates

Enoch Burke is seen arriving at Wilson’s Hospital School in January 2023, defying the court order after being discharged

Wilson’s Hospital School in County Westmeath, Ireland. The former teacher took issue with the former headteacher asking staff to address a transgender student by their new name and pronouns

Burke arrives at the High Court in Dublin in September 2022, after being jailed in Dublin’s Mountjoy Prison for breaching an interim court order keeping him away from his workplace.

Former history and German teacher Enoch Burke seen outside Wilson’s Hospital School in January 2023, violating their court order to stay away

In May 2022, Mr Burke became involved in a gender dispute at Wilson’s Hospital School.

He told his principal that he was “against transgenderism” because of his religious beliefs and that he would not address the student, who was transitioning, by his new name or use “she” as a pronoun.

Burke openly criticized the school’s “demand” that he use the student’s chosen pronouns.

This came in response to an email from head teacher Niamh McShane to staff asking them to address the student in question using their new pronouns.

He was first jailed in September 2022, spending 100 days in prison before being released. He was jailed for a second time in September 2023, spending Christmas behind bars before being released in June this year.

Mr. Burke is appealing his dismissal from school.