Enoch Burke claims fitness-to-teach inquiry into his conduct is a 'hypocritical witch hunt'

Seán McCárthaigh

An inquiry panel of the Teaching Council has heard claims by Enoch Burke that a fitness-to-teach inquiry into his alleged misconduct for repeatedly showing up at his school when suspended and in breach of court orders is a “hypocritical witch hunt".

The panel is to rule on Friday over applications by Burke to have it and its chairperson stand down from overseeing the inquiry.

The chairperson, Andy Pike, said the three-person panel required time to adjudicate on detailed and complex submissions made at a preliminary hearing of the inquiry on Wednesday.

Burke had called on Pike to recuse himself from chairing the inquiry on grounds of objective bias.

He separately applied for the panel as a whole to take similar action because he claimed they had breached their obligation to be independent due to their conduct and decisions during the preliminary stages of the inquiry.

Burke told the hearing that it was “simply outrageous” to consider that Pike could approach the hearing with a fair and impartial mind.

'Mocked and parodied'

He claimed the chairperson had posted “another Enoch float” on his X (formerly Twitter) account on March 17th, 2023 together with a link for a video which “mocked and parodied” him and his suspension from Wilson’s Hospital school.

Burke said the post, which had 1,742 views, indicated the issue before the inquiry was “hilarious and a cause of amusement".

“He promoted that view publicly,” said Burke.

He accused Pike of finding the issue “a fit object of mirth” which he claimed was “preposterous and utterly hypocritical".

Burke complained that he had been “dragged over the coals” and accused of bringing a profession he loved into disrepute, while Pike was “laughing behind the scenes".

'Hypocritical witch hunt'

He claimed the Teaching Council was indulging a vexatious complaint against him for its own reasons which had turned the process into “a hypocritical witch hunt".

The inquiry heard Pike had posted another tweet on July 25, 2018 in which he recommended that anyone with an interest in mental health or LGBT issues should follow the account of Neville Southall, the former Everton and Wales goalkeeper, as it was “the most positive Twitter feed I have ever seen".

Burke noted Southall had posted a comment just three days earlier about “making the world a little less binary".

He also took issue with a retweet by Pike on November 27th, 2025 about Wilson’s Hospital by someone whom he claimed went out of their way to oppose his (Burke’s) position.

Burke said the panel had blurred the lines in their obligation to be independent and impartial because of their interactions with the Teaching Council.

He made a similar complaint about the panel’s legal assessor, Lorna Lynch SC, whom he claimed was compromising the panel’s independence, while complaining that the panel’s two other members – Adrian Guinan and Clodagh O’Hara – had not asked him any questions at a previous hearing.

Burke also claimed the complaint made to the Teaching Council which has resulted in him facing a fitness-to-teach inquiry was “frivolous, vexatious, made in bad faith and an abuse of process".

He told the panel that he had concerns about the bona fides of both Pike and the Teaching Council.

Burke said Pike held a radical viewpoint on transgender issues which did not reflect the law of the land.

Summary

In summary, he argued the chairperson had demonstrated a reasonable apprehension of bias, while his use of social media was not compatible with chairing the inquiry.

In reply, however, counsel for the Teaching Council, Eoghan O’Sullivan BL, urged the panel to set aside Burke’s “righteous indignation, hyperbole and poetic licence".

He claimed the teacher specialised in generality and details were “not the friend” of  Burke.

While the teacher was very fond of recourse to his own rights, O’Sullivan said he had little regard for the rights of others.

Counsel stressed that the inquiry was not about “pronouns or religious beliefs” but about Burke showing up repeatedly at his school after he had been suspended and in breach of court orders.

O’Sullivan accused him of repeatedly seeking to mischaracterise the purpose of the inquiry for his own agenda.

Tweets

He said Pike’s link about a St Patrick’s Day float was to an account which no longer exists, while his other tweet had not advocated anything about pronouns or transgenderism.

O’Sullivan pointed out the third tweet was about the good work of SNAs at Wilson’s Hospital and had nothing to do with issues before the inquiry.

He argued that two members of the panel not asking questions of Mr Burke could not be perceived as demonstrating bias, while Lynch had made interventions to ensure he had got a fair hearing.

O’Sullivan suggested that Burke made claims of bias “as soon as someone disagrees with him.”

The start of the hearing was delayed over objections by the teacher to his family being required to give their full names to security staff to attend the hearing.

Burke, who was brought to the Teaching Council’s headquarters in Maynooth, Co Kildare from Castlerea Prison, claimed it was “wrong and intimidating” that his family members were met in the building by security staff who were “well-built men, dressed in black.”

Burke family

The inquiry heard that the Teaching Council had agreed to allow several members of the Burke family to attend the hearing without having to give their names.

They included Burke’s mother, Martina; his sister, Amii and brother, Isaac, who ultimately did not attend the inquiry but stayed in the vicinity for most of the day.

O’Sullivan had claimed the objection raised by Burke about his family attending the hearing was “absolute nonsense” and designed to frustrate the process of holding the inquiry.

Burke was suspended by Wilson’s Hospital in 2022 and later dismissed by the school last month over his refusal to follow a direction by the then school principal, Niamh McShane, to address a student by a new name as well as the pronouns “they” and “them” as well as his subsequent conduct with the principal.

The German and history teacher, who has spent over 700 days in prison over his refusal to obey court orders, maintains the request went against his religious beliefs as an evangelical Christian.