Irish Court Sends Teacher Enoch Burke Back to Prison
An Irish High Court judge has ordered teacher Enoch Burke to be returned to prison immediately after ruling that he had again breached a court order barring him from his former school.
Irish Court
Mr Burke was jailed for contempt for a fifth time on Monday and taken back to Mountjoy Prison after being arrested by gardaí at Wilson’s Hospital School earlier in the day.
The teacher had been released from Mountjoy just last Wednesday so he could prepare a legal challenge involving an appeals body reviewing his dismissal from the school. His release was granted on strict conditions, including a requirement that he not return to the school grounds.
Despite that, Mr Burke appeared at the school on Thursday, Friday and again on Monday morning, telling those present that he was there “to do a day’s work”.
In the High Court, Mr Justice Brian Cregan said he was satisfied that Mr Burke had trespassed on the school grounds on 15 and 16 January in what he described as a “flagrant breach” of a court order.
“You have been dismissed,” the judge told him. “It is not your place of work. What part of that sentence do you not understand?”
The court heard that Mr Burke was arrested as he stood just inside the school gate in heavy rain, with a security guard preventing him from proceeding up the driveway. When gardaí arrived, he was handed a copy of the judge’s order authorising his arrest.
“This is all about transgenderism,” Mr Burke said at the scene. A garda replied that the matter concerned compliance with a High Court order, not the wider dispute. Mr Burke continued to protest as he was led to a police car and driven away, while his brother Isaac filmed the arrest on his phone.
A barrister for the school’s board of management, Rosemary Mallon, told the court that Mr Burke’s repeated appearances had caused an “unprecedented and significant impact” on the running of the school.
Long running dispute
Mr Burke, an evangelical Christian who previously taught German and history, has been involved in a prolonged legal dispute with the school since 2022. The case arose after he refused a request from the then principal to address a student by a new name and pronoun.
He has argued that the direction violated his constitutional rights and his freedom to express his religious beliefs. The school, however, obtained injunctions preventing him from attending the premises, orders which he has repeatedly defied.
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As a result, Mr Burke has been fined more than €225,000 and says he has spent more than 550 days in custody for contempt of court related to breaches of those orders. His most recent period in prison began in late November.
When granting his temporary release last week, Mr Justice Cregan said it was for “one reason and one reason only”, to allow Mr Burke time to prepare his case before the appeals body reviewing his dismissal, and he made clear that Mr Burke was not to return to the school.
Supporters of Mr Burke, including some right wing commentators in Ireland and the United States, have portrayed his imprisonment as evidence of an attack on religious freedom. The school maintains that the issue before the courts is not ideology, but repeated refusal to comply with lawful court orders.
Following Monday’s hearing, Mr Burke was remanded back to Mountjoy Prison, where he will remain unless he agrees to comply with the court’s directions.
