Jana Lunden: the public mood has shifted in favour of Enoch Burke

The Enoch Burke controversy is a PR disaster for Wilson’s Hospital School in Co. Westmeath. The exclusive fee-paying Church of Ireland boarding school has become the most famous secondary school in Ireland for its defence of transgender ideology and for its allegiance to Belong To, the national LGBTQ+ youth organisation. The private school was on course to receive its Belong To Quality Mark earlier this month but it’s unclear if it has reached that stage, according to Jana Lunden of the Natural Women’s Council who called the school reception for an update.The problem is the trans agenda contravenes the school’s Church of Ireland ethos and Enoch Burke’s religious beliefs should have been constitutionally protected when he refused to call a pupil ‘they’ in June 2022.Things have changedSince then, the public mood has shifted considerably from the NGO driven mantra ‘trans rights are human rights’ to realising the mutilation, regret and despair associated with attempting to change a child’s gender. Firstly, it’s simply not possible, no matter how skilled the plastic surgeon. Secondly, attempting to change genders is ill-advised and can lead to suicide and painful, irreversible post-surgery repercussions. All of this has been spelled out clearly in the Cass Report which instructed against pandering to pronouns and against the use of puberty blockers, especially as the bulk of ‘trans’ children presented on the autism spectrum with a range of mental health issues including sexual abuse.On foot of the report, the UK swiftly banned the controversial drugs, followed by Northern Ireland while Irish authorities attempt to bury the news and shirk their responsibilities to protect vulnerable children by following best practice.Note: The husband of Minister for Justice Helen McEntee works for Abbvie, a pharmaceutical company that makes puberty blockers, which also sponsors GAA football in Sligo and Mayo. Enoch Burke will not go away (even in jail) and neither will the trans problem for Wilson’s Hospital School and the Irish government. Something’s got to give.Sorry seems to be the hardest wordWill Enoch Burke be sent back to jail for a fourth time for contempt of court? Or has the time come for him to get that overdue apology and for the school, and by extension Irish authorities, to finally admit they got it wrong?The public mood has shifted. Woke is dead.Long live common sense.Kindly support independent journalism and buy Aisling a coffee HERE. Thank you. Get full access to Aisling O'Loughlin at aislingoloughlin.substack.com/subscribe