Simeon Burke (this appears to be a cancellation thing in law profession)

[Retiredfromthere]

I may be missing something and am not in Ireland and did not follow the Enoch Burke case closely but this did catch my eye. Its concerning when a profession that has people like Jolyon Maughan in it can act like this.

Simeon Burke is the brother of jailed teacher Enoch Burke who was jailed for taking his 'anti-trans' views a tad far. Simeon has had a brush with the law about this himself- he was charged for public order offences connected with his brother's court case but appealed and charges were dropped.

Simeon studied law at University of Galway and University of Cambridge and was called to the bar in first place in Oct 2023 (of class of 150) and has won awards, but he has only just - two years on - been able to find anyone (from a list of 150 'Masters') who will take him on (as an unpaid pupil) so that he can progress to become a barrister. No-one would take him. But he now has a place and I hope he does well and is a real force in the legal profession. His pupilage will be with Ciara Davin, sister of conservative campaigner Maria Steen, who specialises in medical law.

This family may not be sympathetic figures but for all the Masters on the list to refuse to take such a very well qualified candidate for two years - presumably because of anti-trans activism/views - is noteworthy.

Background here
https://gript.ie/simeon-burke-closed-shop-law/
About being taken on - finally here
https://www.irishtimes.com/ireland/2025/10/06/barrister-agrees-to-take-on-simeon-burke-to-complete-his-legal-training/

Any law firm would be mad to take him on
His sister is a qualified solicitor and took her employer to a tribunal
The mother (who runs a religious school) turned up and started ranting and raving.
Enoch is in trouble for trespassing into the school after he was suspended and speaking to another teacher in a threatening tone
The family are Ireland s answer to the Westbro baptist church (Louis Theroux did documentaries in Westbro years ago).
The family recently turned up at a DUP political conference and harassed an MLA. Who did offer to meet with them
I don't blame any employer for not wanting to touch this family.

Anti-trans activism would be the least of the reasons people would have for not wishing to have to engage with any of them in the workplace or elsewhere.

The Burke family seem to have no boundaries, no self-regulation, no humanity, no respect, no judgement, no sense of proportionality, and absolutely no regard for other people.

I don't care what they believe in or stand for, they could be 100% in agreement with every single one of the values by which I live, and I would still feel the same way about them because of their anti-social behaviour.

They family have from for refusing to recognise the law when it doesn’t suit them. How does that square with being a barrister.

Enoch didn’t lose his job because of his views. He lost his job because of his conduct
when he turned up as a religious event to shout at the principal. That’s what led down the disciplinary road he’s currently on.

His sister ammi burke lost her job for conduct at her solicitor firm

They have ‘contempt’ for the law when it disagrees with them.

They are clearly smart, so it’s a terrible waste. If Enoch had approached the matter correctly, within the law, he’d still be employed. The fact with these great legal minds in the family, thwy couldn’t fathom that is a mystery

Thank you for this background @GinaandGin @MarieDeGournay and @Justdancevance I clearly have missed out on quite how undesirable he is. I am assuming that as he appealed his conviction successfully perhaps he is a bit less rabid than others in his family. But maybe not and I agree that its a big risk.

Thank you for responding like that, Retiredfromthere.

I suppose it's true to say that Enoch Burke's anti-trans views are at the origin of this specific round of Burke misbehaviour - the school he was working for seems to be very genderwoo-ish, and a lot of us would have shared his unhappiness with having to use pupils' chosen pronouns.

It's everything that EB and his family have done since then that is unacceptable.
Things like shouting out in court, shouting at the judge, assaulting police officers, constantly breaching court orders and constantly refusing to purge their contempt of court or pay fines - EB owes about €225,000 in fines so far - ensuring he is jailed repeatedly, thereby gaining 'martyr' status,

You just have to contrast that with the way women like Maya Forstater have asserted their rights to have CG views validated, to work out what kind of people the Burke family are.

The Burke family seem to have no boundaries, no self-regulation, no humanity, no respect, no judgement, no sense of proportionality, and absolutely no regard for other people.

Not to make light of it but this family seems well named, it's weird that they seem to have all the same faults as those they oppose.

Simeon seems a bit more restrained than Ammi and Enoch. I hope Ciara Davin doesn't live to regret this kindness. I assume she is Catholic, like her sister. Many Pentecostalists don't accept that Catholics are Christians. Or anyone who doesn't belong to their sect , indeed.

I was surprised Davin took him on. As said above I think the Burkes tend to consider Catholicsj as being akin to heathens,so I hope Davin has laid down the law, pardon the pun.
I saw a video recently where the mother and one of the family traveled to Belfast had harassed a Presbyterian minister for some transgression.
Simeon appearing in such videos could really affect Davin:s business.
I feel a bit sorry for the adult children. They were home schooled and are all highly educated but they didn't learn how to function in social settings.
Enoch was supposed to have been an outstanding teacher and could have successfully challenged the school for insisting he use they/thempronouns for a child, especially as it has since emerged that the parents weren't informed. He could have led the way in challenging how schools manage gender questioning children.
But, instead,his behaviour has helped to ensure that every teacher in the country is keeping their heads down and remaing silent. The school he worked in is apparently completely emmersed in genderwoo.
I hope Simeon does well in his new job
He is a bright young man with a lot to offer and deserves a second chance.
I think there is another Burke sibling who is a teacher who doesn't get involved in the family's carry on, and I hope he can do the same.

You'd me mad to choose to have dealings with any of them, they're incredibly litigious.

It sounds like it's less about his views on trans, and more about the whole family being drama llamas. I can see why people don't want to get involved.

Agree with what's been said so far about this family. They've been threatened with contempt in at least one court in Ireland for being disruptive and shouting. I've seen footage of them following people heckling, ranting and raving. They turned up in the states some months back protesting about something.

Enoch Burke turned up at the school he had been ordered to stay away from again and again. He's been fined a lot of money because of it.

They should be ignored and the media shouldn't be reporting on this and giving them even more attention.

I know this is an old thread but this Enoch Burke thing is niggling at me. I agree with people's observations that the family is extremely litigious and that Enoch Burke has gone the wrong way about defending his job and taking on the school over their course of action. Whilst I agree with not being forced to use preferred pronouns, I don't think the family have handled the situation properly. I think he should've stayed away from the school as ordered by the judge and taken the school to court in a calm and reasonable way.

I seem to be missing some facts though. Apparently he is still being paid by the school, so isn't he technically still employed and therefore entitled to show up? Also, I'm aware most of the reporting I see on this is from mainstream media and I've lost faith in mainstream media to accurately report on issues related to trans ideology. This makes me wonder if we are getting the full picture and if there is some context I am missing.

I do wonder if some perspective will come to light in a few years that will make us reexamine what went on. In the same way that Graham Linehan could be viewed as slightly deranged when seen through a certain lens, when you have the full facts about the TRAs who were persecuting him his reactions make sense. I had this horrible thought ; what if the entire government was bullying Enoch Burke? He mentioned that his route to the Supreme Court was being blocked.

I'm not one for conspiracy theories but the world has gone so mad I can't discount that something more sinister might be going on. I'd be interested to hear your views.

The company I work for has an office near the law firm his sister worked at. The family picketed outside for months. Odd would be the kindest way to describe them. Religious extremists is another.

I’m as GC as they come and it’s a crying shame that he has become embroiled in this debate. It drags us all down

It certainly does. My husband said something mild in defence of women's single sex spaces to his friend group and was immediately shouted down and called 'Enoch Burke'. So maddening to have legitimate concerns dismissed in that way.

Didn’t notice this was an old thread, however @BruachAbhann even if he is being paid and I have no idea if that is correct why would that make it ok for him to show up. He’s been ordered by a court to stay away.

True. I don't have all the facts but what I've heard doesn't really make sense. I just thought it was strange if he is still getting paid and therefore technically employed? But if the terms are to stay away then he should stay away.

I'm not for one second defending him, the whole family seem off-the-wall, I'm just wondering are we being told the full picture. What doesn't add up is that he obviously thinks he's right and he has lawyers in the family who presumably know the law. He has spent over 500 days in prison which I assume he would rather not do. Of course it's possible that I'm looking at the situation from a reasonable person's perspective (I like to think!) and he's just not being reasonable.

The process is still ongoing appeals etc and he is deliberating holding up the process.

I think Enoch Burke is no longer being paid by the school, so he has absolutely no reason to keep turning up there - apart from the fact that there's an injunction preventing him from being there, which is why he keeps ending up in prison.

I don't share BruachAbhann's concern that 'MSM' is not reporting this adequately - the court cases against him and his family are all held in open court and have been reported on by different sources; the visible fact of his physical presence at a place where he is not supposed to be has been recorded by different sources; many of his family's outbursts have been in public and recorded by various sources.

I can't imagine what is being hidden from the public.

The whole drama arises from a school accepting a student's demand to be referred to as 'they', and EB's refusal to comply. He is appealing his dismissal, which was on the basis of his disruptive behaviour, though experience tells us that it was likely that it wasn't how he expressed his refusal to comply, but the fact that he did. That sounds familiar, doesn't it?

The High Court granted his application for a temporary injunction to stop the Disciplinary Appeals Panel from publishing their decision on his appeal - which shows that the highest court in the land has treated EB fairly and ruled in his favour - which must have put a dent in his quest for martyrdom at the hands of a biased legal system.

It's also worth noting that a judge released EB from prison to make sure he was able to prepare properly for presenting his case for a permanent injunction - but he turned up at the school again the very next morning morning, again breaching the court order, and again being sent back to prison for that reason.

I don't think it's possible to spin the Burke Saga in any way that does not show them as believing that they are above the common people who have to respect the law and injunctions and restraining orders and that kind of thing - the Burkes think they are special, and can do what they like, without the consequences the rest of us would suffer if we did likewise.

I think it's their 'we are a special caste and the law doesn't apply to us' attitude that makes the Burkes so unpopular.

Important context to this case is what happened right at the start. Firstly if I remember he wasn't even the teacher of the kid in question. Then the following is what caused the initial disciplinary:
At the High Court hearing, the school claimed that Burke had two months earlier interrupted a church service held to mark the school’s 260th anniversary, which was attended by clergy, staff, past and present pupils, parents, and board members.
The school alleged that at the event, Burke said that his then-principal should withdraw a request for teachers to address a transitioning student by their preferred pronouns.
The school also alleged that Burke later approached the principal and made similar remarks to her, and that the principal told Burke she would speak to him at an appropriate time and place about the issue, before she walked away.
It was claimed that Burke then followed the principal and questioned her loudly, prompting other people to stand between the two of them.
The school initiated a disciplinary process against Burke over this incident, resulting in him being placed on paid administrative leave, pending the outcome of the process.
When Burke continued to show up at the school, Wilson’s Hospital School asked for a court order because its board claimed this was not abiding by the terms of his suspension and that he was disrupting the schools and its students.
Burke continued to turn up at the school, prompting the school to ask the courts to take further action; he was finally jailed for contempt of court in September 2022 when he turned up at the school for breaking yet another injunction.

This is presented as the case of a teacher being oppressed for their beliefs. In fact it's one member of a family who are known for being anti-social, extreme in their actions, etc. acting out in the usual crazy way that they do. GC commentators in Ireland have bemoaned his approach as undermining any reasonable point that may have been made. Although in this case he wasn't even the teacher of the child in question and his actions would not suggest any consideration of duty to care to the child involved as his motive.

The man and his family are terrorising a school full of children. I’m not surprised nobody will take him on.

In Enoch Burke's position, I too would have problems with going along with a child 'socially transitioning' at school.
I suspect that there is a degree of 'Bananaraming' about how he expressed his objections, though later behaviour would support the idea that he was extremely disruptive.
To that extent, I wouldn't be very surprised if the disciplinary panel's decision turns out to be a genderwoo-inspired fudge to find in favuor of the school - though I hope not.

So far, so Team Enoch.

It's the breathtakingly arrogant, and aggressive, behaviour of the family as a whole that puts the tin lid on any support I might have for EB as he barges his destructive and very expensive path through the legal system

Thanks everyone. I appreciate the extra context. I'm not losing my mind so, the above posts reflect my take on the matter as it currently stands. If he'd taken a more measured, reasonable approach to the school issue he'd have more support I'm sure. I was recently reading the comments on a Facebook post (a newspaper article) about him and about half of them were supportive of him so I was curious to see if I was missing something.

The thing about Enoch Burke is that I doubt he gives a shiny shit about the rights of women and girls, about the influence of sex stereotyping, about the hyper sexualising of children and acces to porn, the harmful creep of identity politics, etc.etc. He is objecting because it conflicts with his family's extreme religious position. In a way he and his family are exactly the same as TRAs in that he's trying to impose his ideological world order on others and have them behave differently to him and treat him differently because of his identity. I think it's shocking that he has become this admired figure.

Half of the comments were supportive of EB?? that's...

I was going to say 'incredible' but on reflection, I think he has become a posterboy for some extreme elements who will pick up on anything that is confrontative and 'agin-the-law' and strikes a 'you are all sheep' attitude towards anybody who disagrees with them.

Unfortunately for the GC cause, one of the things they have picked up is being vehemently anti-gender ideology, but I doubt if it's because trans activism impinges on women's right.

I also think that in being anti-trans, they may be anti-LGBT in general, forgetting that we didn't ask for the T to be added on, and we are getting caught up in the backlash.

Adding that the new guide to trans rights published by the Irish Council for Civil Liberies [state-backed] but written by TENI Transgender Equality Network Ireland + another similar group says that
Schools must use students’ preferred name and pronouns, says new trans rights guide
Guide produced by civil liberties group warns businesses risk legal action if they fail to uphold rights

I don't know what the legal standing of this 'guide' is, I wonder is 'TENI Law' the Irish equivalent of 'Stonewall Law' in the UK, but it is indicative of how dire the situation is here that TENI Law is actually written into the ICCL guide.. by TENI itself.

Schools must use students’ preferred name and pronouns, says new trans rights guide – The Irish Times