Enoch Burke: Jailed teacher's dad disrupts taoiseach's campaign

Gardaí are investigating members of Enoch Burke's family after they disrupted an election canvas by the taoiseach (Irish prime minister) in County Mayo.

The group, including the jailed teacher’s father Seán Burke and two others, heckled Simon Harris while he was on a walkabout in Castlebar and later in Westport on Sunday.

In Castlebar, protesters filmed and shouted at Mr Harris and Minister for Justice Helen McEntee.

After Mr Harris left Castlebar, the group followed Ms McEntee as she was escorted back to her car.

Later in Westport, members of the Burke family again interrupted a canvass and heckled the taoiseach.

A garda spokesperson said: "Gardaí in Mayo are investigating all the circumstances of events, which occurred in Westport".

Enoch Burke has been in Mountjoy Prison in Dublin since September 2023 after refusing to comply with court orders not to attend the school where he worked.

He was suspended by Wilson's Hospital School in County Westmeath in August 2022 after he confronted his then-principal in public at a school event in June - Mr Burke objected to addressing a student who was transitioning gender with a new name and using the "they" pronoun.

After he was suspended, he continued to turn up for his timetabled hours and so a court injunction was put in place to try to stop him from doing so.

After he breached the court order he was jailed in September 2022 and although he was released three months later he was jailed again in September 2023 for breaching another court order.

Speaking between his visit to Castlebar and Westport, the taoiseach said it would take "an awful lot to disrupt my energy".

"I certainly enjoyed continuing to talk to people in Castlebar, calling into cafes, calling into shops, getting out the message," he said.