No, Irish teacher Enoch Burke wasn't arrested for 'not accepting transgenderism'

The claim

A viral video includes claims that it shows a teacher named Enoch Burke being arrested outside Wilson's Hospital School in Mullingar, Ireland, for refusing to endorse and affirm "transgender ideology."

In the video, a man is seen being forcefully taken into a police van by several officers while saying, "I have a right to be here" and "I have a right to work here," as people yell, "Shame upon you" at the police.

"A teacher has been arrested for not accepting transgenderism," the cameraman explains.

The video was shared in an X post (archived here) that was seen more than 3.7 million times in one day after it was uploaded on September 2, 2024. The video has also circulated on Facebook (archived here) and TikTok (archived here).

Screenshots of the posts. (Source: X/TikTok/Facebook/Screenshots/Modified by Logically Facts)

However, Enoch Burke is incorrect. He does not have a right to enter the school premises due to a High Court order, and that's why he was arrested.

The facts

Wilson's Hospital School took disciplinary action against Burke in August 2022 following a dispute over a transgender student's pronouns. 

According to the school, Burke had interrupted a church service marking the school's 260th anniversary to call for the then-principal to withdraw a request for teachers to address a transitioning student by their preferred pronouns. The school also claims that Burke insistently followed the principal after the event, even as she ended the conversation and walked away from him, and loudly questioned her in a way that forced other people to step in. This caused the school to take disciplinary action, and Burke was put on paid administrative leave pending the outcome of the process. 

The school then secured a temporary High Court order to restrain Burke from attending the school premises or teaching classes, alleging that he was not adhering to the terms of his suspension. When Burke continued to attend the school premises, he was arrested, found guilty of contempt of court on September 5, 2022, and sent to Dublin's Mountjoy Prison.

In September 2023, three months after serving his prison sentence, Burke breached the court order again, resulting in his return to Mountjoy Prison. He was released this June.

This recent event marks Burke's third arrest over breaking the court order. In total, he has spent more than 400 days in prison.

Burke has denied being in contempt of court and appealed the order, claiming that the judge disregarded his constitutional rights of freedom of conscience and freedom of religion by punishing him for refusing to comply with the school's direction. He lost his High Court action in July this year, as the judge argued that Burke "is being required to do no more than any other litigant —to obey the orders of the court."

The verdict

Enoch Burke was arrested not due to his opinions on gender but for breaking a high court order. Therefore, we have rated this claim as misleading.