Irish teacher fighting pronoun use freed from prison, claims it's a 'trap'

Enoch Burke, an Irish teacher previously sentenced to prison indefinitely back in December, has been released from Mountjoy Prison.According to the Irish Times, Burke was released to allow him to prepare for a new legal case.The new case is a challenge to the composition of a disciplinary appeals panel that will hear an appeal against his dismissal at Wilson's Hospital School, where he is currently a teacher.Burke was suspended from his role at the school in 2022 after confronting the then-principal over his objection to using the new name and pronouns "they" for a student..Despite this, Burke continued to attend the school — after which a judge ordered him to stop attending.Since then, Burke has been jailed multiple times for breaching court orders, and there was a manhunt for him, after a Dublin Court ordered his imprisonment once again in November.He has since spent more than 560 days in prison.According to Burke's post on X, on how the new proceedings are going, it states, "At the appeal hearing on the 13th of December, Enoch Burke was subjected to an Appeal Panel that blocked cross-examination of witnesses from the school, denied him fair procedures and abruptly ended the hearing without closing submissions."."One panel member, Geraldine O’Brien, blatantly stated at the outset of the hearing 'If I were instructed by my Principal to call a child whatever, I have to implement that instruction, I don’t make the instruction,'" the post recounted regarding the hearing."Judge Brian Cregan is now counselling this Panel as they seek to defend the indefensible in the High Court. This is an utter travesty of justice," the post concludes.The new case was supposed to be heard before court on Saturday, but was postponed after Burke took on new High Court proceedings, claiming O'Brien was objectively biased.Justice Cregan has also stated on Wednesday Burke "needs time to focus on the issues in this case and properly prepare for the hearing.".“I am doing this for one reason only and it is in the interests of justice that he has the time to do so,” Cregan claimed on why Burke was released.However, Cregan stated the order from the court requiring Burke to not trespass on school grounds remains.As to why Burke believes he was released, he stated to the press in the clip posted on his X Wednesday:"It's just another delay, putting you out on the streets — putting him in, putting him out again — but not deliverance of right or justice by our courts," Burke said.."And I would say simply today, this is a trap by Judge Cregan — letting me out — Judge Cregan knows well where I will be tomorrow.""He knows I'll be at my workplace.""He knows I'm employed there, that I'm a teacher, and that I am a man of principle, and that I do my duty."Burke claims letting him out of prison was a trap since, "there's plenty of people here I was thinking, dozens of them, who are trying to prepare cases on the edge of a bed — I meet a lot of decent, nice people in here — sad people, sitting in beds in here behind locked doors, maybe trying to get some justice that they didn't get when they had a court hearing."."But their door has not been open — you know why?""Because it's ridiculous, you don't let people out to get ready for a court case — it's a load of nonsense."Previously reported by RTE News back in early December, Burke was supposed to stay in jail unless "he gave an undertaking not to trespass at the school where he used to work."When he was imprisoned back in December, Judge Cregan accused Burke and his family of engaging in the most deliberate, sustained and concerted attack on the authority of the civil courts and the rule of law in Ireland in recent times.The court had heard the Attorney General is considering a request from Cregan to consider taking criminal contempt of court proceedings against Burke, his brother Isaac, his mother Martina, and his sister Ammi.."When this case came to the court of appeal the first day, in March 2023, they said it had nothing to do with Enoch Burke's views of his objection to the principles of instruction," stated journalist Shane Phelan who reported on Burke's arrest."When it came to the court of appeal in the summer this year, in July 2025, the court of appeal considering the same question came to an entirely different conclusion — they said it was about the fact that Enoch could object to instruction."It was about his views, about his Christian beliefs, that is why he was being disciplined."