Courts

Enoch Burke denies reputation tarnished before Sunday Independent article

Jailed teacher says students greeted him on return to school after public dispute with a dance ‘flashmob’ and wanted him to sign their shirts

Enoch Burke said it was 'absolutely ludicrous' that lawyers for Mediahuis suggested he had been known as anything other than a hardworking, well-regarded and well-liked teacher. Photograph: Collins Courts

Ellen O'Riordan
Wed May 1 2024 - 18:40

Enoch Burke has denied that his reputation was tarnished well before the Sunday Independent published an article incorrectly stating he changed prison cells for his safety after annoying other inmates.

Under cross-examination on Wednesday, Mr Burke said any reputational damage came “directly as a result” of the story published on October 9th, 2022.

He said it was “absolutely ludicrous” for the publisher’s lawyers to suggest he had been known as anything other than a hardworking, well-regarded and well-liked teacher. “That changed in October,” he added.

Mr Burke was jailed for the first time in early September 2022 for defying a court order requiring him to stay away from Wilson’s Hospital School in Co Westmeath, which suspended and later dismissed him after he publicly objected to being instructed to refer to a male student using they/them pronouns. He has spent more than 340 days in Mountjoy Prison, from which he was brought to the High Court on Wednesday.

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He has sued Mediahuis, as publisher of the Sunday Independent, the newspaper’s editor Alan English and reporter Ali Bracken alleging he was defamed in the story.

The article cited unnamed sources in support of its statement that Mr Burke had been moved to a new jail cell for his own safety as he was “annoying other prisoners” and “repeatedly expressing his outspoken views and beliefs”.

The newspaper issued an apology on January 1st, 2023 and clarified that Mr Burke’s cell change was for “operational reasons only and not for the reasons stated in the article”. It strongly denies defamation and pleads fair and reasonable publication on a matter of public interest.

Ronan Lupton SC, on behalf of the defendants, put it to Mr Burke that the article was incapable of injuring his reputation which had been damaged by his “own hand” previously. He said Mr Burke has caused public controversy with his behaviour, refusal to comply with court orders and having to be removed from court.

Mr Burke disputed this, saying somebody asserting their rights in court is operating in a high-stakes, adversarial environment. He said a Supreme Court judge likened the court process to war.

Mr Lupton suggested to Mr Burke that the public viewed him as someone who was in contempt of court. Mr Burke disagreed, saying: “They view me as a teacher who stood on his rights”, for which reason alone he was sent to Mountjoy.

It was put to him that he chose and was choosing to remain in prison and could secure his release by undertaking not to trespass at the Co Westmeath school. “I did not choose to reside this way. Nobody chooses to go to prison,” he replied.

Counsel asked Mr Burke if he agreed that the public might have an interest in how he was getting on in jail. Mr Burke said the story in question was not about this, but was “defamatory drivel” that was “fed out to millions”.

Mr Lupton said the circulation figures for the piece was much lower than that, with the unpaywalled first two paragraphs of the online version receiving 121,600 views and about 113,000 copies of the print edition sold.

Mr Lupton questioned Mr Burke about a website he operated more than a decade ago when former senator and gay rights campaigner David Norris was running as a presidential candidate. Mr Burke said he operated a site, which bore Mr Norris’s name in the domain, “expressing an opinion on a candidacy”. He said an election candidate puts themself “up for scrutiny”.

Mr Lupton said it is “perhaps not normal” to be intolerant of homosexual activity, which is what that website was about.

Mr Burke said the website was factual, researched and provided information on who Mr Norris is. He agreed the website included a line: ‘Is a gay president ok?’

Mr Lupton suggested to him that he has been putting himself “out there” since at least 2012 in expressing his views on how people should behave in society.

“I was expressing my Christian beliefs,” Mr Burke said, adding that doing so in the “public square” is a “commendable thing”.

He disagreed with Mr Lupton’s proposition that his record painted a picture of intolerance and “utterly” rejected the suggestion he ever dictated how others should live their lives. Expressing one’s religious belief does not equate to dictation, he said, adding: “I am a Christian and I am entitled to that belief [ ...] It is not a bad thing to have Christian belief.”

Mr Burke said a letter written by the student council at St Wilson’s Hospital School that criticised his actions was not representative of wider student sentiment and “does not sit with the great support” he has received.

When he returned to the school after significant publicity, he said, a group of students conducted a dance “flashmob” for him, many wanted him to sign their school shirt and others expressed their support for him. He said one pupil gave him a bag of scones and another gifted him a barmbrack.

Mr Burke’s case, in which he seeks general and punitive damages for alleged defamation, continues on Thursday before Mr Justice Rory Mulcahy. His claims are denied.

Ellen O'Riordan

Ellen O'Riordan

Ellen O'Riordan is an Irish Times reporter

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