St Patrick's Day floats poke fun at Enoch Burke controversy
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St Patrick's Day floats poke fun at Enoch Burke controversy

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.

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.

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.

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.