Enoch Burke no longer receiving salary after dismissal from school, High Court hears

The High Court heard the former teacher has received his final payslip and remains jailed

Enoch Burke outside his former workplace, Wilson’s Hospital School. Picture: Brian Lawless/PA Wire

Jailed schoolteacher Enoch Burke is no longer receiving a salary from the Department of Education after being formally dismissed from his post at a Co Westmeath school last month, the High Court has heard.

Mr Burke is to remain in prison after refusing on Wednesday to give a court undertaking not to trespass at his former workplace, Wilson’s Hospital School.

His case was reviewed by Mr Justice Brian Cregan following significant developments in his dispute with the school last month.

The court heard that Enoch Burke was formally dismissed for gross misconduct after a Disciplinary Appeal Panel (DAP) found that his challenge to the dismissal had failed.

In circumstances where a scheduled hearing of Mr Burke's challenge did not proceed because of his disruptive behaviour, the DAP said his grounds for seeking a review of the dismissal were “not made out”.

Separately, the Court of Appeal last month dismissed Mr Burke’s bid to bring a late challenge to a High Court judgment that found he had been validly suspended from his job.

It was on foot of that May 2023 judgment that Judge Alexander Owens barred Enoch Burke from attending the school.

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

The dispute arose after the principal directed teachers to address a student by a new name and with the pronouns “they” and “them”. Mr Burke, an evangelical Christian, has maintained that the request conflicted with his religious beliefs.

Mr Burke has repeatedly breached the order requiring him to stay away from the school. He is now imprisoned for contempt of court and has spent approximately 700 days in jail across separate periods of incarceration.

Refusal to give undertaking

At Wednesday’s hearing, appearing via video link from Castlerea Prison, Enoch Burke said he did not agree with the Court of Appeal judgment.

Acknowledging that position, Mr Justice Cregan asked Mr Burke whether he accepted the judgment.

Mr Burke replied that he maintained his suspension from the school was unlawful, adding that he would “never accept” that his Christian beliefs “can be set forward as gross misconduct”.

Noting that Judge Owens’s order remains valid, the judge asked Mr Burke if he was prepared to give a court undertaking not to trespass at Wilson’s Hospital School.

Mr Burke responded by stating that his suspension was “manifestly unjust” and criticised the Court of Appeal judgment.

Asked again whether he was willing to give the undertaking, Mr Burke sought to raise complaints about the DAP process.

Repeating claims made at last month’s hearing, Mr Burke alleged a conflict of interest on the part of DAP chairperson and solicitor Claire Callinan.

He also claimed the judge had engaged in a “display of partiality” during that hearing by asking the school’s lawyers to read into the court record the DAP report dismissing his challenge.

The judge rejected the allegation, stating that he needed to understand the grounds on which Mr Burke’s challenge had been dismissed or had not proceeded.

Asked whether he intended to challenge the Court of Appeal’s decision, Mr Burke said that was a matter for him to consider.

Salary payments stopped

Noting Mr Burke’s continued refusal to purge his contempt of the order barring him from the school, the judge said his imprisonment should continue.

The judge directed the school, the Department of Education and the Department of Finance to submit written evidence on various matters, including affidavits outlining information on fines incurred by Mr Burke as a result of trespassing at the school.

The court previously imposed daily fines on Mr Burke for breaching the trespass order.

Kane Kavanagh-Baer, barrister for the Department of Education, said Enoch Burke had been removed from the department’s payroll and had received his final payslip.

The judge adjourned the matter for three weeks.