Enoch Burke tells appeal teachers are 'afraid to exercise their right to expression'
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Jailed teacher Enoch Burke has claimed in the Court of Appeal (CoA) that teachers around the country are being "told to bow down" to instructions to only use "they" rather than "he/she" when referring to transgender students.
"Teachers are afraid of stating their true beliefs and are whispering their objections", he told his appeal against the rejection last December by the High Court of his challenge to the composition of a disciplinary appeals panel (DAP) set up to consider his dismissal from his teaching post in Wilson's Hospital School, Westmeath.
He was replying to submissions made in the CoA by Padraic Lyons SC, for the DAP, opposing Mr Burke's application for an order excluding Kieran Christie, general secretary of the Association of Secondary Teachers in Ireland (ASTI) from the appeals panel.
The day-long CoA hearing passed off without incident and Mr Burke, who is well into his second year in prison over his refusal to obey orders to stay away from Wilson's Hospital, once again represented himself with members of his family present. The CoA reserved its decision.
Mr Burke claims he is in jail because of his opposition to the "ideology of transgenderism" and because he is standing up for his Christian beliefs and constitutional right to freedom of expression.
The High Court last December dismissed Mr Burke's claims that there were grounds for saying a reasonable observer would have a reasonable apprehension of objective bias by Mr Christie when dealing with the disciplinary matter because of comments and actions made by the ASTI in relation to transgenderism.
The court found there was "not even a starting point" to Mr Burke's claim that Mr Christie has been a "promoter of transgenderism" since 2016.
It further rejected his claim of bias because of comments by ASTI deputy general secretary, Diarmuid De Paor, in a newspaper interview that students should be generally referred to by their preferred pronoun. These were comments representing no more than the general position of the ASTI, the court found.
Mr Burke appealed the decision and the DAP opposed the appeal.
In his arguments to the CoA on Thursday, Mr Burke said it was his case that it was not appropriate for Mr Christie to sit on the DAP because of the ASTI's support for transgenderism.
This support included Mr De Paor's newspaper interview which was a deliberate intervention in the public debate on transgenderism a week-and-a-half after he was suspended from his teaching job, he said. It also came from ASTI's active association with the Transgender Equality Network Ireland (TENI) group, he said.
It further came from the ASTI's membership of the "radical" Children's Rights Alliance which Mr Burke said in 2018 made a "very disturbing recommendation" that legislation should be introduced allowing children over 16 to change their gender without their parents' consent.
The Alliance also recommended that under-16s should be allowed to apply for recognition of their preferred gender, he said.
He argued the High Court came to an erroneous conclusion in saying the perception of bias could not be reasonably linked to the statements of ASTI.
Mr Burke also told the court that as a result of instructions on how to address transgender students, teachers are "afraid to exercise their right to expression" and are in fear of doing so.
The DAP strongly denied his claims of bias. Mr Lyons, for the DAP, said the ASTI has not taken a position on what demand is to be made of a particular teacher or where there is conscientious objection.
The short statement of Mr De Paor in the newspaper was simply a statement of general advice and there could be no connection between that and any decision of the DAP, he said.
Counsel said Mr Burke claimed instruction from the Wilson’s Hospital principal to teachers on how to address a transgender pupil was invalid having regard to religious and constitutional protections.
These, counsel said, were nuanced and complex points which he is entitled to make before the DAP. The DAP then is required to carefully balance his rights and those of others in any decision.
Mr Burke's claims of bias based on one newspaper article and the ASTI's membership of a non-governmental organisation (Children's Rights Alliance) fell very short of the requirements to prove bias. His appeal should be rejected, he said.
Asked by Ms Justice Nuala Butler if he would object to another member of ASTI on the DAP instead of Mr Christie, Mr Burke said he had made his submissions as they stand in relation to Mr Christie “and there I rest my case”.