Posted by Teacher Enoch Burke’s appeal of his dismissal from Wilson’s Hospital School is due to be heard by the Department of Education this Saturday, 13 December. Enoch Burke will speak in court tomorrow. He will argue that the Supreme Court must address the issue of conflicting Court of Appeal judgments in his case before the Department of Education hears his appeal. It is imperative in the interests of justice that this issue be resolved. A three-member division of the Court of Appeal today granted an order that Enoch Burke appear in person before them tomorrow at 2:30pm to apply that this hearing be postponed. There are conflicting judgments of the Court of Appeal regarding the critical question of why Enoch Burke was disciplined by Wilson’s Hospital School. This is an extremely serious matter as the school’s Board of Management is relying heavily on a flawed judgment for Saturday’s hearing. The Department of Education hearing should not proceed while this matter is unresolved. One judgment from 2023, written by Mr Justice John Edwards, contains the extraordinarily false assertion that “there is no evidence whatever” that Enoch Burke’s suspension was because of his views on transgenderism or his refusal to comply with the principal’s instruction to call a child “they”. Mr Justice Edwards, on foot of this, stated that the constitutional rights to freedom of religion and freedom of conscience are “not engaged” i.e. not relevant to Enoch Burke’s case. As stated previously, the Board of Management of Wilson’s Hospital School are relying heavily on this flawed judgment for Saturday’s hearing. In a later Court of Appeal judgment in 2025, Ms Justice Mary Faherty ruled, on the contrary, that the principal’s instruction is “a kernel” of the disciplinary proceedings against Enoch Burke. She stated: “In my view, any reasonable reader of the principal’s report would understand that the principal considered her overarching complaint against the appellant to fall under the heading of refusal to comply with a legitimate instruction resulting in serious consequences, as provided for in the Circular”. Notwithstanding this, the second Court of Appeal did not correct the errors of the first Court of Appeal and was unwilling to state that the findings of Mr Justice John Edwards are wrong. Enoch Burke has appealed this issue to the Supreme Court. The Department of Education hearing should not proceed until the Supreme Court hears this case and makes its ruling. Justice must be done.
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