Enoch Burke officially sacked after appeals panel upholds school’s decision

Enoch Burke said he did not accept opinion of the disciplinary appeals panel and asserted that he was still an employee of the school

Enoch Burke, who appeared at Thursday’s hearing via videolink, said he did not accept the Dap’s opinion, and asserted that he was still an employee of the school. File picture: PA

Enoch Burke’s dismissal from Wilson’s Hospital School has been confirmed by the school’s board of management after a disciplinary appeals panel (Dap) said a challenge by the jailed teacher had failed, the High Court has heard.

Lawyers for the Co Westmeath school told Mr Justuce Brian Cregan on Thursday that the Dap, convened to hear Mr Burke’s appeal to his dismissal, this week said the teacher's grounds for review of his dismissal were “not made out”.

The Dap said its opinion was a product of Mr Burke’s unwillingness to conduct himself in an orderly manner, his failure to comply with the Dap’s direction, and unwillingness to participate in the Dap process unless it was on his terms, the court heard.

An attempted oral hearing of Enoch Burke’s challenge in April was persistently disrupted by him and his family members, leading the Dap to decide it was “impossible” to conduct a fair hearing.

Following the issuing of the Dap’s opinion, Wilson’s Hospital School wrote to Enoch Burke informing him of his dismissal with immediate effect, and that there was no basis for him to attend at the school, Rosemary Mallon, for the school, told the judge.

Mr Burke, who appeared at Thursday’s hearing via videolink, said he did not accept the Dap’s opinion, and asserted that he was still an employee of the school. 

Two of his siblings, Jemima and Simeon, were escorted from the hearing after disrupting proceedings, with the latter forcibly removed from the courtroom by a Garda member.

Late challenge bid dismissed

Separately, in a judgment on Thursday, the Court of Appeal dismissed Enoch Burke’s bid to bring a late challenge to a High Court judgment that found he was validly suspended from his job at a Co Westmeath school.

The school suspended — and later dismissed — Mr Burke over his conduct towards the then-principal Niamh McShane at a school religious event in June 2022.

The confrontation arose in circumstances where Ms McShane had earlier directed teachers to address a student by a new name and with the pronouns “they” and “them”. Enoch Burke, an evangelical Christian, has maintained this request went against his religious beliefs.

Mr Burke has repeatedly breached a court order to stay away from the school. He is currently incarcerated over this contempt of court, having spent close to 700 days in separate spells in jail.

At Thursday’s hearing, counsel for the school told the judge the board of management felt it was important to bring the Dap’s opinion to the court’s attention, and stated that the next steps were “in the court’s hands”.

Ms Mallon opened to the court the full opinion issued by the Dap this week, and the school’s subsequent letter to Mr Burke confirming his dismissal from his teaching post.

“[Enoch Burke] is now dismissed… He has no right, even on his own logic — which is disputed by the school — to attend at Wilson’s,” counsel submitted.

Mr Burke made various submissions regarding the Dap process, stating that he rejected the Dap’s opinion, and asserting that he was still an employee of the school.

He raised what he described as a conflict of interest arising from participation of Dap chairperson Claire Callanan in the process.

He claimed the conflict arose from Ms Callanan's purported links to the Church of Ireland, including her sitting on a church disciplinary panel. He submitted that her husband, senior counsel Lyndon MacCann, was a legal adviser to the Church of Ireland, and held other senior roles in the church.

Noting Wilson’s Hospital School’s Church of Ireland ethos, and submitting the church was “intrinsically connected” to the school, he claimed Ms Callanan could not be an objective and impartial decision maker in the appeal.

When these issues were raised by Mr Burke in correspondence with the Dap, the panel said it did not consider that a conflict of interest arose, the court heard.

Enoch Burke also submitted that there was no substantive hearing of his appeal to the Dap, and that no decision has been made on same.

Opportunity to purge contempt

Mr Justice Cregan said it was a matter for Enoch Burke what he wished to do following the conclusion of the Dap process, stating that he had an entitlement to challenge the panel’s opinion.

The judge said he was not expressing a view on issues raised in Mr Burke's submissions, including the conflict of interest allegation.

The judge then gave Mr Burke an opportunity to purge his contempt of the court order banning him from Wilson’s Hospital School. Mr Burke did not address the question, but continued to advance claims about the purported deficiencies in the Dap process.

The judge, noting Mr Burke’s refusal to give an undertaking not to attend at the school, said the teacher remained in contempt of court, and should remain in prison.

Meanwhile, in dismissing Mr Burke’s bid for a late appeal of the judgment finding he was validly suspended by the school, Judge Caroline Costello said he raised no ground of appeal that “goes to the justice” of the decision sought to be appealed.