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Police arrest Irish teacher who refuses to give up on his job or give in to ‘trans’ agenda – LifeSite

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DUBLIN (LifeSiteNews) — Ireland’s embattled Enoch Burke has been arrested once again after appearing at the school where he used to work.

On Monday September 2, Enoch Burke was taken into custody by Ireland’s police force, An Garda Síochána, after turning up for work at the start of term at Wilson’s Hospital secondary school.

Footage posted online by his family showed Burke escorted into a Garda van by three officers.

Burke protested his right to be at the school, saying “I have a right to work here, I have a right to be here.”

“I’m not going to turn my back on my duty to my students,” Burke told one of the arresting officers.

Following his arrest, Burke is now back in Mountjoy Prison with his case next up for review on October 11.

Enoch Burke’s pronoun refusal

Burke’s now internationally known case began in summer 2022. A teacher of German, history, and politics, at a Church of Ireland school, he refused to address a male student – reportedly in the process of “transitioning” – as a girl, and also refused to use the pronoun “they.”

Defying a school principal’s order to use the transgender pronoun, Burke was then placed on paid administrative leave on August 22, 2022 while the school board held a disciplinary process. After Burke ignored this and continued to attend the school, he was then handed an interim order on August 30 to prevent him from entering the school, which he also ignored.

The school authorities summoned the police and Burke was arrested for contempt of court on September 5, 2022 while sitting in an empty classroom in the school. He was sentenced to jail for an unspecified period of time, until he either purged his contempt of court or until the court decreed otherwise.

“Transgenderism is against my Christian belief. It is contrary to the scriptures, contrary to the ethos of the Church of Ireland and of my school,” the teacher said in his 2022 sentencing. “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.”

Days before Christmas of that year he was released by the High Court after the judge argued that Burke was using his imprisonment for his own ends.

At the time of his 2022 release, Burke was warned he would be fined €700 a day if he refused to obey the court injunction barring him from the school.

In January 2023 the school dismissed Burke from his employment.

After Burke continued to appear at the school he was jailed last September, once again with the official reason being his refusal to abide by the court order not to appear at the school.

On June 28 this year, he was released from jail at the start of the summer term holidays. His release was not a pardoning or a removal of the court order, with the judge warning Burke he would return to prison if he broke the court order – namely, if he returned to the school.

With Burke having returned to Wilson’s Hospital school reportedly every day since the start of term on August 22, the police appeared at the family home looking to arrest him.

After having already spent 400 days in jail, Burke’s return to prison appears unlikely to end imminently, with the teacher steadfastly holding to his Christian beliefs and refusing to “comply with transgender ideology.”

Though his arrest and imprisonment is technically due to his non-compliance with the court order to avoid Wilson’s Hospital school, Burke’s case has been highlighted as ultimately based around the growing dominance of transgender ideology in society.

“For the crime of wanting to teach his students and not be forced to spread the evil of trans ideology, Enoch is back in Mountjoy prison, where he has already been unjustly imprisoned for 400 days for his Christian beliefs,” commented Deacon Nick Donnelly.

Burke’s latest arrest has sparked even more international attention to his case and to transgenderism generally, with even noted Canadian Dr. Jordan Peterson highlighting the arrest footage which has now gone viral online.

Some have argued that Burke’s jail term is due to his own continued refusal to accept his firing by the school and that he could walk free if he only agreed to not present himself at the school.

Burke is from a family of Evangelical Christians, who are well known in the public domain and the court rooms for their vocal stance in defense of Christian values in Irish society.

However, with support for Burke emanating from his native Ireland and across the globe, he appears to have become a figurehead for resistance to transgender ideology which is finding roots in many nations, especially in the formerly Catholic Ireland.

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