Sacked teacher Enoch Burke defends decision to “doorstep” Edwin Poots at Church

Burke family hit back after being branded “unbecoming” after south Belfast Church visit to discuss “transgenderism”

A sacked schoolteacher turned fundamentalist Christian campaigner has defended his decision to “doorstep” Stormont speaker Edwin Poots at his Church in south Belfast.

The Burke family from Castlebar, Co Mayo, came to prominence following the case of Enoch Burke, a former school teacher who was jailed for contempt of court after refusing to obey a court order following a legal dispute with Wilson Hospital School, where he had worked.

The family had been labelled “unbecoming and unbefitting” after reportedly attempting to doorstep DUP MLA Edwin Poots at his church in an attempt to speak about what Mr Burke described as “the LGBTQ+ agenda” and “transgenderism”.

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Members of the family are said to have attended the South Belfast MLA’s place of worship shortly after he had left it on Sunday, something that Mr Poots did not feel was appropriate.

The Burke family is known for their fundamentalist Christian beliefs and have been involved in a number of legal cases and protests surrounding this.

In a statement following the incident last weekend, the DUP MLA said he would “encourage the family to desist from going to church meetings and gospel services where the gospel has just been preached to doorstep people. It is unbecoming, it is unbefitting and it is not the way that things should be done in a church setting.”

That incident came just weeks after the family were also accused of harassing the congregation at Hebron Free Presbyterian Church in Ballymoney.

In a statement following that incident, the church said the family’s actions were “totally out of order” and caused “great annoyance to the entire congregation”. Some children and elderly members were also allegedly evacuated from the church through a side door to avoid the family.

Now, Enoch Burke has taken to social media to defend his actions at Mr Poots’ place of worship on Sunday.

In a lengthy statement published on X (formerly Twitter), the fundamentalist campaigner said he had “visited” Hillsborough Free Presbyterian Church and “sought to speak with DUP councillor and Education Authority board member Jonathan Craig”.

The former teacher claimed the Education Authority is “promoting transgender ideology in schools across Northern Ireland”.

The statement continues: “On Sunday evening we were informed that Mr Craig was not at the church. We then asked to speak with Mr Poots, but were told that he had left.

“We thought this was strange, as Mr Poots had been leading the congregational singing during the meeting. It seems to us that Mr Poots left quickly to avoid meeting with us. Mr Poots has since released a video regarding our visit to Hillsborough Free Presbyterian Church.”

Mr Burke added: “We have never had an interest in speaking to Mr Poots about ‘political issues’. Mr Poots is fully aware of this.”

His statement continued: “It is a disgrace that instead of engaging in this issue Edwin Poots runs away from accountability.”

In his statement issued following the encounter, Edwin Poots had said: “I would encourage the Burke Family if they wish to speak to me about political issues to contact our office and make an arrangement and I’ll happily meet them here in my office.”

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