Burke family travels to Washington DC ahead of Taoiseach's White House visit

Tomas Doherty

Taoiseach Micheál Martin has said the Burke family, who have staged several protests in Ireland, are “free to travel” to Washington, DC.

Members of the Burke family boarded a flight to the US capital on Tuesday, the same day Mr Martin will arrive in the city ahead of his meeting with US president Donald Trump.

Cuan Ó Seireadáin, political correspondent with Raidió na Gaeltachta, posted on X after spotting the family on his flight.

"Members of the Burke family are on my flight to Washington DC," he wrote.

"When asked about the purpose of their journey they refused to answer my question as to whether they have been invited or not."

It has led to speculation that they may have been invited by Elon Musk, who has previously posted in support of Enoch Burke.

Several members of the family have been involved in protests and high-profile legal disputes arising out of the suspension of Enoch Burke from his job as a teacher.

Mr Burke was imprisoned for contempt of court for refusing to stay away from the school where he worked.

The dispute stemmed from incidents over a request from the school’s then-principal to address a student by a new name and the pronoun “they”.

Mr Burke, an Evangelical Christian, argued his suspension was unlawful and went against his right to express his religious beliefs.

Asked if he was aware if the Burke family had been invited to any of the events at the White House, Mr Martin said: “I’m not familiar with the travel arrangements of any particular family and I’m not aware of any issues around that. I mean, people are free to travel.”

Pressed on whether he would have an issue of them attending any of the events on his itinerary, he added: “I’m going to represent the Irish people on behalf of the Government of Ireland, the people of Ireland.

“I have a lot of functions on all week and that’s what I’m focused on.”

Mr Musk, who is classified as a "special government employee" through his work with the Department of Government Efficiency (Doge), posted on X about Enoch Burke just last week.

Last Friday, the High Court was asked by the State to appoint a receiver over the salary of Mr Burke in a bid to collect outstanding fines.

The move to appoint a receiver "by way of equitable execution" will, if approved, give the State the power to collect from his salary some €79,100 which Mr Burke so far owes in daily €700 fines for turning up at Wilson's Hospital school in contempt of court orders that he stay away.

A post on X claimed that "Enoch Burke, a Christian school teacher in Ireland will be stripped of his salary after refusing to use they/them pronouns for a transgender student. Burke has already spent 500 days in prison and the Irish courts are now punishing him further. This is horrific."

Mr Musk reshared the post along with the word: Wow.