Enoch Burke fails in bid to remove panel over bias at fitness-to-teach hearing

Seán McCárthaigh

An inquiry panel overseeing a fitness-to-teach inquiry of the Teaching Council into allegations of professional misconduct against Enoch Burke has rejected the teacher’s application that it should stand down over claims they were biased against him.

The panel, including its chairperson, Andy Pike, ruled that both he, separately, and the three-person panel as a whole would not recuse themselves from the inquiry into Burke’s repeated attendance at his school when suspended and in breach of court orders.

Burke claimed the ruling was “a grave and monumental error that a man who champions the 'they' pronoun will be allowed to chair a panel inquiry into me.”

The teacher had applied before a hearing on Wednesday for both Pike and the panel to stand down from overseeing the inquiry on grounds of objective bias.

He was suspended by Wilson’s Hospital in 2022 and later dismissed by the Co Westmeath school last month over his refusal to follow a direction to address a student by a new name as well as the pronouns “they” and “them”, and 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.

Announcing the panel’s decision on Friday, Pike said the panel would not and could not be required to make any findings regarding the lawfulness of instructions given to Burke regarding the use of pronouns or any issues of religious freedom.

The chairperson said the test for objective bias was whether a reasonable and informed observer would have a reasonable apprehension that a decision maker would not be able to give the matter an impartial hearing.

Pike said the panel had noted that the apprehension of the affected party was “not relevant.”

The panel determined that there was no rational, cogent or logical connection between matters raised by Burke and the apprehension that he would not get an impartial hearing.

The teacher had cited three social media posts by Pike as alleged proof of his bias in an inquiry which he had described as “a hypocritical witch hunt.”

They included one in which Pike posted “another Enoch float” on his X (formerly Twitter) account on March 17th, 2023 together with a link for a video from a St Patrick’s Day parade which “mocked and parodied” him.

Pike said a reasonable person would be aware that St Patrick’s Day floats portraying Burke were “a national phenomenon at the relevant time” with extensive coverage not only on social media but also in print and broadcast media.

He observed that it was also over a year and a half before a complaint against Burke was considered by the Teaching Council.

The teacher had also criticised another tweet by Pike from July 2018 in which he recommended that anyone with an interest in mental health, addiction 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 seen.”

Pike said the panel had concluded that any reasonable person would be aware that Southall allowed his Twitter feed to highlight various topics not limited to transgender issues.

He pointed out that he had not described any individual posts by Southall as positive, but rather the feed.

Pike said claims by Burke that he had a “radical viewpoint” and advocated the use of the “they” pronoun on social media as well as criticising those who refused to use that pronoun were “simply inaccurate.”

The teacher also took issue with a retweet by Pike on November 27th 2025 – a few days after he had been returned to prison – about Wilson’s Hospital by someone whom he claimed went out of their way to oppose his (Burke’s) position.

However, Pike said the original post was by an individual student reporting a positive experience with SNAs which contained no reference that the school was Wilson’s Hospital.

The panel also rejected the separate application by Burke that it should recuse itself from the case over complaints about its lack of independence as well as decisions taken during the preliminary stage of the inquiry including the role of its legal assessor, Lorna Lynch.

The teacher had complained he had received correspondence on behalf of the inquiry panel from the legal firm, Fieldfisher, which acts for the director of the Teaching Council.

However, Pike said that was incorrect as any communication from the panel was through the regulatory body’s secretariat which was allowed under its rules.

He said the panel’s legal assessor had intervened at preliminary hearings to ensure that the teacher was given an opportunity to make submissions or ask questions.

Burke said a criticism by Burke that the panel’s two other members – Adrian Guinan and Clodagh O’Hara – did not contribute at preliminary hearings because they did not ask him questions was “simply incorrect.”

He said decisions taken at preliminary hearings in relation to hearing of the evidence of a witness in private and postponing the date of a full hearing were “fairly and properly made” although Burke might not agree with them.

Pike said the inquiry panel would allow both Burke and the Teaching Council to consider their ruling and asked the parties to indicate next week what the next steps in the process would be.

Burke, who attended the remote hearing via video link from Castlerea Prison, had his microphone muted after he started to describe the ruling as a “grave and monumental error.”

Pike informed the teacher that the panel was not taking representations on its ruling “ at this point in time.”

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