Family of Enoch Burke stage protest outside St Anne's Cathedral in ...

Burke was suspended from his teaching position at Wilson's Hospital School in Co Westmeath, after he objected to referring to a student using the pro-noun ‘they’ in 2022.

However, throughout his suspension Burke continued to arrive at school premises, leading to the school seeking the interim injunction seeking to prevent him from teaching or being on site.

He was later arrested in September 2022 and was formally dismissed from his teaching position in January 2023.

He is currently in prison following a hearing in December in which Burke declined to purge his contempt or to confirm that he would obey a court order,

Appearing outside St Anne’s Cathedral in Belfast on Sunday afternoon, where a service was taking place to mark the 120th anniversary of the cathedral, the family including Martina Burke, Enoch’s mother, were seen holding signs stating: “Enoch Burke, 377 days in Mount Joy Prison”.

During the protest, Mrs Burke is heard claiming her son “upheld the Christian ethos of the school.”

"That God made them male and female. However it was demanded of (Burke) by the principal of that school, Niamh McShane that he affirm transgender ideology. That he will use the ‘they’ pronoun… it was the principal of the school that was promoting transgender ideology,” she said.

“This is beyond imagination, that the principal of a Church of Ireland school doesn’t want to have a Christian, Enoch Burke, working there.

“That is why we have travelled from the west of Ireland today to stand outside this building, because we need answers, that a young man, a man of integrity, an excellent teacher, a serious Christian is locked up today in Mount Joy Prison” she added, referring to her son.

"He is not a murderer, he is not a child molester, he is not a sexual abuser, he’s never taken drugs in his life. His crime is that he will not affirm transgender ideology. It’s a disgrace, and a stain upon Ireland today.”

Mrs Burke then goes on to target the Christian beliefs of the Archbishops involved in the service and calls upon them to “make a statement” about Burke who Mrs Burke claims is “languishing” in a prison cell.

Another supporter is heard echoing Mrs Burke’s remarks, and said Burke has “committed no crime”.

Deputy Lord Mayor of Belfast and Green Party councillor, Áine Groogan said she was “filmed and shouted” at by members of the family, writing on X, formerly Twitter: "It’s a shame my last official engagement as Deputy Lord Mayor was marred however by having to run the gauntlet of this lot who filmed (and) shouted nonsense at me, with the PSNI having to get them to backoff so I could safely get into my car. Didn’t have this on my bingo card for today.”

The appearance of the Burkes in Belfast comes just weeks after a religious conference in Co Armagh was briefly suspended by members of the family.

Proceedings were halted for 45 minutes after Mr Burke’s mother Martina and brother Josiah publicly challenged church leaders on an event which took place on the second day of the Church of Ireland synod.

Video footage from the incident showed Martina Burke entering the room with a microphone in hand as Bishop Storey was speaking.

She questions Archbishop McDowell directly on why Enoch Burke was suspended from Wilson’s Hospital School “for upholding the Church of Ireland ethos” while her son Josiah Burke is seen unfolding a poster of his brother which states: "Enoch Burke 354 days in prison”.

They later left the event but held a subsequent protest outside the venue for over an hour outside. The PSNI said at the time they attended a protest and no arrests were made.

The Burke family, which consists of parents Martina and Sean Burke and their ten children: Ammi, Elijah, Enoch, Esther, Isaac, Jemima, Josiah, Keren, Kezia, and Simeon, are well known fundamentalist evangelical Christians in the Republic and have often involved protested events they believe contradict their strong beliefs.

They have previously protested LGBT events and matters related to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Earlier on Sunday, supporters of Burke where also seen confronting a canvass by Taoiseach Simon Harris in Castlebar, Co Mayo.

A video shared widely on social media appeared to show the Irish premier running down a street where he is confronted by a man shouting about Burke, before he enters a shop – after he leaves, the protestor appears to continue to follow Mr Harris.

News Catch Up: Wednesday 29th May 2024