PROTESTING members of the Burke family disrupted a gala St Patrick’s Day dinner in Washington DC.
The Christian clan had to be bundled out of the swanky Ireland Funds gathering after gatecrashing the event to protest about the imprisonment of Enoch Burke for contempt of court.
Burke’s mother Martina, his sister Ammi and brother Isaac sneaked into the National Building Museum in central Washington DC and loudly heckled speeches on Thursday night.
Taoiseach Micheal Martin and members of the US Congress were present for the black tie event, as well as Northern Ireland Secretary Hilary Benn and UK Ambassador to the US, Peter Mandelson.
Martin and two members of the House of Representatives had just left the stage before Burke’s mother and his two siblings gained entry to the bash.
They then began roaring about Burke’s imprisonment during an acceptance speech of an award from the Ireland Fund to Dan Quinn, head coach of the Washington Commanders NFL team.
Photos show security pouncing and hauling them out of the building, with both Martina and Isaac tumbling to the floor.
Speaking today, Martin branded the stunt “regrettable”.
The Taoiseach rapped: “People have a right to protest in a proper way and that is not a proper way — to attempt to disrupt an event that was to honour people who have been of such service to Ireland in the US and people of the Irish-American diaspora who really are not involved in anything to do with this issue.”
It is not clear how the Burkes managed to gain access to the private gala without tickets.
Earlier in the evening, the Burke family – which at that stage also included Enoch’s father Sean – staged a demonstration outside the venue as guests arrived.
But three members of the clan later made their way inside the building in the middle of a speech from Coach Quinn.
They shouted loudly as they were pulled back through curtains surrounding the main dining space during Mr Quinn’s speech.
Chaotic scenes ensued as law enforcement officers grappled with them and forcibly removed them from the National Building Museum.
The three shouted criticism of Martin as they were dragged from the building.
Quinn tried to make light of the disruption.
The NFL coach joked that the incident was like being at a game of the Commanders’ divisional rivals Philadelphia Eagles.
After they were ejected from the event, the family members continued to shout criticism of Martin and Tanaiste Simon Harris as they stood on the pavement outside.
At one point, cops moved the family away from the entrance to the building and asked them to stand further along the pavement.
“People have a right to protest in a proper way and that is not a proper way — to attempt to disrupt an event that was to honour people who have been of such service to Ireland in the US and people of the Irish-American diaspora who really are not involved in anything to do with this issue.”
Micheal Martin
Martin declined to answer questions about whether the Burke family was an “embarrassment to Ireland”.
And the Fianna Fail leader said Mr Quinn took the interruption “in his stride”.
Martin said: “It didn’t significantly in any way kind of disrupt the event. I think Coach Dan Quinn handled it in his stride. I think it was regrettable that that incident happened.”
NO SECURITY CONCERNS
Asked if he was concerned about the security arrangements at the special shindig, Martin replied: “Not really.”
The venue boasted building security with local law enforcement present, while Martin had Garda and Secret Service protection.
As the demo hit the headlines, the Taoiseach defended the security arrangements at the gala as “balanced, firm and strong”.
He said: “The security details and arrangements have been, I would have thought, balanced, firm and strong. I’ve witnessed that myself. I couldn’t fault that.”
SERIES OF PROTESTS
The high-profile Burke family, of Castlebar, Co Mayo, have staged a series of protests against supports for transgender people, which they describe as anti-Christian.
Asked about the Government’s response to the matter, Martin said: “The Irish Government have been very clear on this, I’ve been very clear, in respect to the rights of transgender people.”
Teacher Enoch was imprisoned for contempt of court for refusing to stay away from the Wilson’s Hospital School in Co Westmeath, 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”.
