Enoch Burke returned to jail.

 

Enoch Burke

Enoch Burke is the Irish school teacher who was dismissed from his job for gross misconduct because he refused to use the preferred pronoun 'they' in respect of a transgendered pupil. I understand that he did so on the grounds that it conflicted with his Christian religious beliefs and conscience. The school where he taught, Wilson's Hospital School, in County Westmeath, is a Church of Ireland, fee paying private school.

After his dismissal, Mr Burke, continued to turn up for work, and the school sought an injunction restraining Mr Burke from trespassing on school premises. Due to him defying the injunction, Enoch Burke has incurred fines of €225,000 and has served a number of prison sentences. A judge in the High Court in Dublin has now returned Mr Burke to prison, for what he called a "deliberate, sustained and concerted attack" on the authority of the civil courts and the rule of law. Mr Justice Cregan accused Mr Burke of pursuing a "fanatical campaign" for the last three years and said his decision was not about transgenderism. He said: "despite his time in prison, and despite these fines, Mr Burke persists in disobeying the court order."

The case of Enoch Burke is not a unique or isolated case but it's one of the most extreme cases. In Britain, there have been a number of cases where people have been dismissed from their jobs under similar circumstances, for refusing to act in a way that was contrary to their Christian beliefs and principles and conscience. But many of these people didn't choose to turn themselves into Christian martyrs, in the way that Mr Burke has chosen to do, by defying the law.

Freedom of conscience and the right to hold religious beliefs and principles, is protected under Article 9 the Human Rights Act (HRA) 1998, but it's not an absolute right. Many of the articles contained within the HRA are either 'limited' or 'qualified', meaning they can be restricted under specific, lawful circumstances, provided the restriction is necessary, legitimate, and proportionate, to achieve a specific aim such as protecting public safety or the rights of others.