A South Dublin County Councillor has launched a fundraiser to match Enoch Burke's fines in aid of LGBTQ + charities - and the reaction has been “fantastic”.
Independent Cllr Allan Edge decided to start a fundraiser called ‘Enough Enoch’ in solidarity with LGBTQ+ youth in the wake of the Burke saga. The fundraiser is in support of two Irish based LGBT+ support and advocacy charities, TENI and LGBT Ireland, and aims to raise €700 for each day Enoch Burke attends Wilson's Hospital School - to match the amount ordered by the court to be paid for failing to obey its order.
The fundraiser was started on 30 January, and more than 320 people have donated a total of €8,650 at the time of writing. “I think it's absolutely fantastic,” Cllr Edge said. “I think it's been great for people to have an outlet to do something positive.
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“It's also been, I hope, a sign to any young LGBT+ people that actually the majority don't share these narrow views – these narrow religious views – and that actually people support you and stand in solidarity with you. And I think that's a very important message for people, young people in particular.”
Cllr Edge had two transition year students start work with him last week, and their awareness and perspective of the Burke saga gave him the idea to start the fundraiser. He said: “The problem at the moment is that our discourse is becoming very angry, particularly through social media.
“And so things like trans rights can become a flash point, particularly where the far right is concerned. So even a small narrow religious point of view, like Mr Burke, which he is totally entitled to, can draw fire from other people who perhaps don't share his religious view, but just hate LGBT people.
“So, I thought rather than engaging in the sort of negativity, why don't we try and do something constructive and positive? And I thought a fundraiser, for TENI and LGBT Ireland, which are two amazing organisations that do fantastic fantastic work, would be something constructive and people seem to respond to it.
“I think people were really glad to have an opportunity to do something positive, as opposed to, you know, getting drawn in themselves through all the online negativity.” Cllr Edge doesn’t know if this fundraiser would affect Mr Burke’s regular walk to the school.
“It's hard to know,” he said. “I wouldn't like to try and get inside the mind of Mr Burke. If it was the case, that the fundraiser might encourage him to stop this protest and stop disrupting the lives of the kids there, then that would be a fantastic outcome.
“I have no idea what Mr Burke will do, and to be honest, he'll do whatever he wants to do. That's a democracy. The court will continue to fine him, I assume, but we'll continue the fundraiser for as long as we're aware that he's still at the school.”
You can donate to his fundraiser by clicking here.
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