FLOATS in St Patrick's Day parades around Ireland on Friday have drawn inspiration from the Enoch Burke controversy, much to the amusement of revellers.
The teacher gained notoriety after repeatedly turning up at the gates of a Westmeath school from which he was suspended and later dismissed in a row over pronouns.
I'm looking forward to seeing the best Enoch Floats from around the country today. Could we use #EnochFloat as the hashtag?
#stpatricksdayparade #StPatricksDay2023 Here's one that was shared with me earlier. pic.twitter.com/ABSb2gtKZo
— Hugh Lynn (@lthugh) March 17, 2023
Following a failed appeal against an injunction obtained against him by Wilson's Hospital School, Burke and members of his family were forcibly removed from Dublin District Court last week.
Now, creative revellers have parodied the saga in a series of St Patrick's Day floats, with videos of the parades going viral on social media.
Enoch Burke float in the Manorhamilton, St Patrick’s Day Parade by LockUp Alarms! ☘️ pic.twitter.com/EXZhkoCy3i
— Treasa Nealon (@TreasaNealon) March 17, 2023
One lorry, reportedly from a parade in Burke's native Co. Mayo, showed people dressed up as gardaí tussling with Burke family lookalikes before being ejected from a makeshift courthouse.
Meanwhile, parades in Leitrim and Cavan recreated Burke’s protest, with each float depicting someone dressed as the teacher looking forlorn outside a set of school gates.
Cavan #EnochFloat pic.twitter.com/VWfTFRwNUj
— Conor Lyons (@conorlyonscavan) March 17, 2023
In the Cavan version, a man dressed as a guard is seen trying to usher the Burke lookalike away from the gates.
Nor was St Patrick's Day the only opportunity to poke fun at the Burke saga.
Co. Meath card and gift company PalPack used the teacher as inspiration for a Mother's Day card, having also featured Burke on a Valentine's Day card last month.
Let Mam know... pic.twitter.com/9qOtWhy3Vr
— PalPack (@getpalpack) March 9, 2023
See More: Enoch Burke, St Patrick's Day
