Creeslough priest condemns Burke family school protest as 'outrageous and deeply shocking'
FATHER John Joe Duffy, the Creeslough priest who became a widely respected voice of calm following the 2022 Creeslough tragedy, has issued a strongly worded condemnation of members of the Burke family, following their protests in Milford last Friday.
Their protests coincided with a visit by Minister of Education, Hildergarde Naughton, to Mulroy College and Scoil Mhuire National School.
Fr Duffy said the incident needed to be addressed “in an open, honest and respectful manner,” but did not mince his words in describing what took place.
“Today’s outrageous, deeply shocking, unacceptable and totally disturbing behaviour may leave pupils traumatised and insecure in what ought to be a safe and protective environment,” he said.
The Burke’s row with the Department of Education has gone on four years, and has its roots in Enoch Burke’s refusal to refer to a student by their requested name and pronoun – a stance he maintained was grounded in his religious beliefs.
Fr Duffy noted that children at one of the schools in Friday’s protests had already been traumatised by the Creeslough disaster, making it all the more harmful. Staff, management and visitors, he said, would have been left feeling “upset and threatened.”
“Children have a right to feel cared for, to feel protected, to feel safe – and never to be disturbed, threatened or traumatised within their school grounds or at the gates outside,” he said.
Drawing a stark historical comparison, Fr Duffy said the behaviour was reminiscent of “the worst times of the darkest days of the Troubles in the North, where a lack of respect for children going to and from their schools still haunts us to this day.”
He called on the State to act, insisting that “the full rigours of the law must be utilised” to ensure schools remain physically, psychologically and emotionally safe for pupils and staff alike.
“What members of the Burke family did today cannot go unchallenged,” he said. “This is no way to highlight any issue in a civilised society.”
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