Enoch Burke principal

From the stand today, Niamh McShane described Enoch's behaviour at a staff meeting as "disrespectful"

At one point she said he was so close she could feel his "spittle," but she made it clear he had not spat at her. After dinner later that evening, she said she felt she was being "hunted" by Enoch as he continued to plead with her. When he later stood up at a religious service to call on her to withdraw what he described as her "demand" to staff, she said she felt embarrassed and "absolutely horrified" for the particular student.

Niamh McShane gave evidence to say that she had asked staff to support a student's request, not to accept transgenderism.

She said that she had made several attempts to “find a way through, like we had in the past” with Mr Burke but added that the student was “of paramount concern”. She said that there were many witnesses present for what she called “these public outbursts”, and said she had sought to be “reasonable and fair with Mr Burke, in the past and in this matter”. “The public statement of his refusal to accept transgenderism in the chapel… In August, when writing her report, Ms McShane had assessed that Mr Burke had not been “caring or fair” in response to the request from the student, and that he was “not professional” when he made his interruptions. Ms McShane said she had hoped that by widening the issue out to the board of management that “progression” could be made, and said that his dismissal was just one outcome of issuing the stage four report. At a subsequent dinner, part of the same event on the same day, Ms McShane said Mr Burke approached her and twice asked her to withdraw her “demand”, to which she said it was not the time to discuss the matter.

John Galligan told the High Court that Burke had been a good teacher prior to May 2022.

He said that like his then colleague, former school principal Niamh McShane, he had hoped that a compromise could be reached with Mr Burke over this issue. This surprised him as Burke had not raised any issues regarding a similar request made by the school in relation to another student some months earlier. In reply to the judge, she said the Burkes’ chants were about there allegedly being no chair at the meeting. He said that he could attend in person but that “welcome” was only extended if he committed to obeying the rulings of the court. Galligan, who was acting school principal at the time, said he contacted the school board’s chairman John Rogers, and they approached Burke and told him he had to leave the school premises. He said that at an initial meeting in August, the board was made aware of a report by McShane that contained a complaint about Burke’s behaviour at the June events, but added that the contents of the report were not discussed nor fully aired at that meeting. She said the board found that he had “intimidated and harassed” McShane and had “breached the confidence” in a very public way of a student at two school events in June 2022. She said she observed Burke “lean over and talk over” McShane when demanding that she withdraw her instruction in relation to the student. She had been present at a school dinner last June, which took place after a religious service in the school where Burke interjected and said that McShane should withdraw her “demand” that staff at the school refer to the student by their preferred name and pronoun. In reply to Alex White SC for the school, she said the Burkes had objected to the presence of the school’s lawyers and a stenographer at the meeting. In her evidence to the court, Malone said that the school’s board decided in January to dismiss the teacher, following a fraught and difficult meeting attended by Burke and members of his family. ENOCH BURKE WAS dismissed from his teaching position at Wilson’s Hospital School because he had intimidated and harassed a colleague and had breached the confidence of a student in the school who wished to transition, the High Court has heard.

The former principal of Wilson's Hospital Secondary School in Co Westmeath has said she was embarrassed for herself and absolutely horrified for a student ...

She said Mr Burke was not happy and was visibly upset. Ms Gibson Brabazon said she was "mesmerised" when Mr Burke started what she called his "diatribe" towards the end of the service. . When he told her he taught at the school she said she was absolutely knocked back. She said she felt "kind of hunted" and described Mr Burke as "agitated". She said she was aware Mr Burke was sitting at the back of the dining hall. This was the first time a student had asked for such support and she wanted to be sure they did it properly. She said she was also "absolutely horrified" for the student who had made the request and for other students that the issue was being raised in this public way. Mr Burke brought her to the poster and asked her if she was supportive of this. She said he spoke about the ethos of the school and said her request was not in line with it. She told the court he was close enough to her that she could feel his spittle on her face. She said she had no notice that Mr Burke was going to say anything. Mr Burke is not present in court and it is not clear if he is listening to the proceedings online.