A High Court judge has suggested that private security services be retained by Wilson’s Hospital School to prevent Enoch Burke’s continuous trespassing on school property in breach of court orders.
Mr Justice David Nolan made the comments as he increased daily fines imposed on the schoolteacher from €1,400 to €2,000, and made orders allowing for the collection of €225,000 in fines against him, arising from his contempt of court.
Mr Justice Nolan on Thursday made the orders following an application by the board of management of the Co Westmeath school to have Mr Burke jailed, after he turned up at the school at the start of the academic year late last month.
Mr Justice Nolan said it was not an appropriate step “at this stage” to jail Mr Burke, noting that his imprisonment has had no effect other than to make him a martyr, in his eyes and the eyes of his supporters.
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In a comment that drew objections from several of Mr Burke’s family members in court, the judge said locking up Mr Burke only gives fuel and publicity to his “perverted sense of justice”.
Mr Burke, who was not present in court on Thursday, has already spent over 500 days in prison for breaching court orders. In March, the court appointed a receiver to collect €79,100 in fines owed by Mr Burke arising from his contempt.
Mr Burke, who previously taught German and history at Wilson’s Hospital School, was suspended by school management in 2022 and some months afterwards was dismissed.
The school dismissed Mr Burke over his conduct when he protested about what he said was a requirement to address a pupil with they/them pronouns.
Mr Burke kept turning up for work in defiance of court orders, for which he has been jailed several times.
Throughout the legal proceedings, Mr Burke, who says he is standing up for his Christian beliefs, has maintained that his constitutional right to religious freedom has been breached.
Mr Burke is still being paid his wages pending an appeal against his dismissal.
Rosemary Mallon BL, making an application for Mr Burke’s attachment and committal to prison on Thursday, said the school’s board of management had considered hiring private security at the school to prevent Mr Burke’s trespassing, but ultimately decided it would be inappropriate.
Ms Mallon said hiring private security would be financially problematic for the school. She said the board of management also decided that the school, a place of learning for children, should not be policed by private security.
Ms Mallon said she “fully accepted the extraordinary situation”, and the “extraordinary application” before the court.
Mr Justice Nolan said jailing Mr Burke only acted to give fuel and publicity to his “perverted sense of justice”. “I’m concerned that another application to remit to jail is going to have no effect whatsoever, and [we’re] likely to find ourselves in a position where the whole rigmarole starts all over again,” the judge said.
The judge said it seemed to him that the school should consider hiring private security to protect its property.
Isaac Burke, who said he was representing his brother, did not address the judge’s question of whether or not Enoch would abide by the court’s orders. Mr Burke’s father Seán and sister Ammi were also present in court.
The judge several times threatened to remove the Burkes from the courtroom due to repeated interruptions. They criticised the judge for not reading out papers submitted to the court by Mr Burke.
The judge said he would allow time to Ms Mallon to prepare an affidavit on the school’s position on hiring private security.
The matter was adjourned to next month.
