Teacher Enoch Burke to remain in jail for breaching injunctionon September 7, 2022 at 2:10 pm

A secondary school teacher who was jailed after he ignored a court order will remain in prison for at least another week, after refusing to give an undertaking that he would obey the injunction.

The order prevents Enoch Burke from attending or attempting to teach at the school where he works.

But the court heard that after it was put in place, Mr Burke continued to go to the school.

A further injunction has been granted.

Mr Burke faced legal proceedings after a disciplinary process was launched against him by Wilson’s Hospital school in County Westmeath.

It came after he confronted his then-principal in public at a school event in June about his opposition to addressing a transitioning student with a new name and using the “they” pronoun.

Mr Burke was suspended with pay pending the outcome of the process, but the court was told he turned up at the school for his timetabled hours.

The initial injunction was then put in place by the High Court, but after it was breached by Mr Burke he was jailed at Mountjoy Prison in Dublin.

On Tuesday afternoon, the city’s High Court granted a further injunction, preventing Mr Burke from attending or attempting to teach pending the outcome of a disciplinary process.

Lawyers for the school said Mr Burke was attempting to say the case was about his refusal to call a boy a girl.

But barrister Rosemary Mallon said the case was not about transgenderism, but about a teacher ignoring a lawful decision by his school’s board of management to suspend him on pay pending the outcome of a disciplinary process.

Ms Mallon said the principal had serious concerns about how Mr Burke may act in the school, as well as concerns for the student involved and the entire student body.

She said the case was not about his beliefs but about his alleged conduct.

Ms Mallon said Mr Burke was asking the court to interfere with the school’s disciplinary process, something the courts should be slow to do.

Mr Burke told the court he had spent the last two nights in Mountjoy Prison which was a new experience for him.  

He said he had had much time to consider his actions and behaviour leading him to that place.  

Mr Burke added he did not find instances of misconduct, but only actions “worthy of commendation”.

He said he would never leave Mountjoy Prison if in doing so, he must violate his conscience and his religious beliefs, and deny his God.

Ms Mallon said it was quite clear Mr Burke had no intention of complying with the order and much of what he said were more appropriate issues to be dealt with at his disciplinary meeting or a full trial of the case.  

She said he had not legally challenged the suspension or the court orders despite having had the opportunity to do so.

Mr Justice Max Barratt said he accepted the case was not about the issue of transgenderism and was simply an application for a further injunction which he granted.

The case has been scheduled to come back before the court in a week’s time although Mr Burke was told he could come back to court at any time if he wished to purge his contempt.  

The costs of the legal proceedings were awarded against him.