Courts

Enoch Burke to remain in prison for Christmas after again refusing to stay away from school

Former teacher said complying with High Court order to not attend Wilson’s Hospital School would equate to ‘giving up’ religious beliefs

The judge said Enoch Burke can come to court at any time and give undertakings that will secure his release. Photograph: Collins Courts

Aodhan O’Faolain
Tue Dec 12 2023 - 14:19

Enoch Burke looks set to remain in Mountjoy Prison for the Christmas period after he again refused to undertake to comply with a High Court order to stay away from Wilson’s Hospital School.

After Mr Justice Mark Sanfey asked him several times at a hearing on Tuesday if he would comply with the order, Mr Burke said compliance with it would equate to “giving up” his religious beliefs and would be an endorsement of “transgenderism”.

The judge directed Mr Burke and members of his family to leave the courtroom for interrupting the court during a fraught and at times heated High Court sitting.

The judge left the courtroom on several occasions during the hearing.

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Mr Burke and his family voiced their strong criticism of several judges who have considered and ruled on aspects of the ongoing legal battle, as well as lawyers representing the school board. The family also criticised members of the media.

Mr Burke submitted to the court that he is in prison because of decisions by various judges. Lawyers for the school were involved in covering up evidence relevant to his case, he said, adding criticisms about various judges who heard and made rulings in his case.

The judges criticised include Mr Justice George Birmingham, Ms Justice Marie Whelan and Mr Justice Brian O’Moore, all of the Court of Appeal, and Mr Justice Alexander Owens and Mr Justice Max Barrett in the High Court.

Mr Burke said he has now spent more than 200 days in prison with drug dealers and murderers over his refusal to accept a direction from the school to address a student by a different pronoun.

Mr Justice Sanfey told the teacher the court was only concerned with whether he is prepared to purge his contempt and give an undertaking to the court to stay away from the school, which would secure his release.

Disrespectful

The judge told Mr Burke that he did not like being talked over as it is “disrespectful to the court”.

Mr Burke said he had a right to make submissions and continued with his criticisms of various parties. He asked the court if it was concerned about judges “who should not be” in the positions they held. He questioned their appointments and promotions.

The judge said Mr Burke may well have issues regarding decisions made by other members of the bench but such concerns could be addressed via other forums.

Counsel for the school board Rosemary Mallon BL rejected the personal criticisms made by Mr Burke and said her client was “reluctantly” asking the court to keep Mr Burke in prison until he is prepared to abide by the order to stay away from the school.

The judge said it was clear Mr Burke was not prepared to comply with the court’s order. He ruled that Mr Burke should remain incarcerated until he is prepared to purge his contempt.

Mr Burke, of Cloonsunna, Castlebar, Co Mayo, can come to court at any time and give undertakings that will secure his release, the judge added.

The judge said Mr Burke and members of his family engaged in an orchestrated campaign designed to disrupt the proceedings before him.

Flagrant breach

Such behaviour and the flagrant breach of court orders “won’t be tolerated”, the judge added. He adjourned the case for further review in February.

Mr Burke was jailed for the second time last September after the school’s board asked the court to jail the teacher over his deliberate failure to comply with a permanent injunction, granted last July by Mr Justice Alexander Owens, restraining him from attending at the school.

The board claimed Mr Burke had attended at Wilson’s Hospital campus every day since the 2023-24 school year commenced in August.

The school board alleges Mr Burke’s presence at the school caused “severe disruption for staff and students”. That claim is denied.

In September, Mr Justice Mark Heslin ruled that Mr Burke had “flagrantly breached” the orders requiring him to stay away from the school and ordered that he be committed to prison “indefinitely”, until he purges his contempt.

Mr Burke is separately appealing a decision by the school to dismiss him from his post as a German and history teacher. He has argued he is in prison because of his opposition to “transgenderism” and that Mr Justice Owens’s order is invalid.

Mr Burke has also accused the courts of failing to recognise his constitutional rights to religious freedom. He claims his rights were breached when the school instructed him to refer to a student using they/them pronouns.

Following his suspension from his position at the school in August 2022, Mr Burke was sued by the school over his failure to comply with a court order requiring him to stay away from the school.

For his first stint behind bars, the evangelical Christian spent more than 100 days in Mountjoy Prison between September and December of last year.

He again started attending at the school after the Christmas holidays, leading the High Court to impose a €700 fine for each day he attended at the school.

Mr Burke has also brought a challenge against the three-person panel appointed to hear his appeal against his dismissal from his teaching position. Judgment is awaited in that separate case against the panel.

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