Bar Council investigating Burke family ‘incident’ at Ploughing Championships, chair says

The chairman of the Bar Council has replied to barrister Simeon Burke describing as “inaccurate and misleading” a letter from Mr Burke, in which he said he was being “effectively cut out” from being able to represent clients in court.

Seán Guerin SC said Mr Burke’s letter to him failed to mention recent communications Mr Burke had with Michael F Collins SC, chair of the [Law] Library Committee: “As a result, your letter is inaccurate and misleading.”

Qualified barristers such as Mr Burke must do a year’s pupillage under a master before they can represent clients in court. Mr Burke has for two years been unable to find a master willing to take him on.

The Bar Council publishes a list of senior barristers who are willing to consider taking on pupils, but also makes it clear it is the barrister’s responsibility to find a master.

In his letter, Mr Guerin said pupils cannot attend an orientation day on September 24th next unless they have secured a master. He also said the deadline for securing a master has been extended from Friday to Monday to facilitate those who have yet to locate one.

Mr Guerin said potential masters were being made aware of Mr Burke’s application “and that of any other applicant who has not yet secured a master”.

[ John McManus: Someone needs to give Simeon Burke a barrister job for all our sakesOpens in new window ]

He said the council is making inquiries about an “incident” that occurred at its stand at the National Ploughing Championships in Co Laois this week, where Mr Burke’s mother, Martina, and his sister, Ammi, confronted people at the stand about Simeon’s difficulty in finding a master. They were filmed saying people who did not accept “transgender ideology” were not wanted by the Bar Council.

A report on the encounter was posted on Thursday on the X account of Simeon’s brother, Enoch, a teacher currently in prison for civil contempt of court. A video posted on the account shows Martina and Ammi Burke querying Michael O’Connor SC, and former RTÉ journalist, now junior counsel, Ingrid Miley, about Simeon’s Burke’s inability to find a master. Security guards were eventually called.

In his letter, Mr Guerin said the steps being taken by the council to assist Mr Burke are “without prejudice” to its position in relation to what happened in Co Laois.

Mr Burke wrote to Mr Guerin on Wednesday, Mr Guerin replied on Thursday, and Mr Burke replied to that reply on Friday, with all the letters being released by the family to The Irish Times.

In his Friday letter Mr Burke repeated his point that the position of the council in relation to the barrister’s responsibility for finding a master contradicted statements by it to the Legal Services Regulatory Authority that “all newly qualified barristers … can be assured of sourcing a master in order to complete their year of pupillage”.

Mr Burke also said that, on September 12th, his mother called Mr Collins explaining how distressing the situation was for him, and has also sought to arrange a meeting with Mr Collins.

He said that on Tuesday Mr Collins invited him to attend next week’s orientation for new entrants and noted this was in conflict with what Mr Guerin has now said.

He also confirmed that his mother and sister had attended the council stand in Co Laois and asked if his “beliefs on gender ideology” had anything to do with his not being able to find a master.