Enoch Burke's Former Principal Tells High Court She Felt 'Kind Of Hunted' By Him

Wednesday, 29 March 2023 13:01

The second day of the trial will proceed without Mr. Burke.

The High Court case between Wilson's Hospital School and Enoch Burke has gone ahead without him after he failed to give an undertaking to abide by court rules.

After being held in contempt of court yesterday, Mr Burke was told he couldn't participate from inside the courtroom unless he agreed to behave himself.

There was no sign of Enoch Burke this morning and with no indication as to whether he was going to give an undertaking to behave himself and abide by directions and orders of the court, lawyers for the school emailed him to see what his position is.

Having not received a reply in the time allocated by the judge, the case went on in his absence.

Niamh McShane, the school’s former principal, gave evidence of recruiting Enoch in 2018. She described their early interactions as 'mostly positive' before recalling an exchange in late 2021 when he raised his concerns about a student-made display on how certain famous people identified in terms of their gender and sexuality.

At a staff meeting last May, she said he also raised concerns about her request to staff to refer to a transitioning student by a new name and gender-neutral pronouns.

He accused her of making a demand of her staff.

Enoch says transgenderism goes against his religious beliefs and claims he was fired because of it.

But the school says it engaged its disciplinary process because of his gross misconduct in the wake of Ms McShane's request.

Ms. McShane says she felt 'kind of hunted' by him after a dinner service at the Westmeath school

She claims he confronted her twice after earlier disrupting a religious service to call on her to withdraw what he claims was a 'demand' of staff and students to address a transitioning student by a new name.

This is the second day of what's expected to be a four-day hearing in relation to the disciplinary process that led to Enoch's suspension and ultimately, his dismissal.

Yesterday, Enoch was denied entry into the courtroom unless he agrees to behave and abide by court rulings.

He has so far refused to give the court an undertaking to do so.