High Court orders Enoch Burke's release from prison despite ongoing contempt of court

Judge says teacher remains in contempt of court but dismissal from Wilson’s Hospital School marks a material change in circumstances

Enoch Burke has spent more than 700 days in prison across different periods for contempt of court arising from orders banning him from Wilson’s Hospital School in Co Westmeath. Picture: Brian Lawless/PA Wire

The High Court has ordered the release of Enoch Burke from prison, despite the schoolteacher’s ongoing refusal to comply with a court order prohibiting him from trespassing at his former place of work.

Mr Burke has spent more than 700 days in prison across different periods for contempt of court arising from orders banning him from Wilson’s Hospital School in Co Westmeath.

Mr Justice Brian Cregan said on Wednesday that he would release Enoch Burke, notwithstanding his continued contempt of the court order, citing the “material change” in circumstances arising from the recent refusal of Mr Burke’s appeal against his dismissal from the school for gross misconduct.

The judge was sharply critical of Mr Burke in a judgment ordering his release, describing the teacher as an "unwelcome intruder" intent on causing disruption to staff and pupils at his former 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 confrontation arose after Ms McShane directed teachers to address a student by a different name and use the pronouns "they" and "them".

Enoch Burke, an evangelical Christian, has maintained that this request went against his religious beliefs.

When he continued entering the school grounds following his suspension, the school sought court orders banning him from the premises.

Mr Burke has repeatedly breached the order, resulting in his being committed to prison on several occasions.

Enoch Burke was formally dismissed from his position at the school in May after a disciplinary appeals panel rejected his appeal against his dismissal.

In his judgment, Mr Justice Cregan said it was clear Mr Burke was an "unwelcome intruder" at the school, "intent on causing as much disruption to the education of its young pupils as he can, in his campaign against transgenderism."

The judge said Enoch Burke was entitled to his religious views and was entitled to stand outside the school gates and protest his dismissal.

“However, what he is not allowed to do is trespass upon the school property, enter the school corridors, disrupt the education of the pupils, try to bully and berate security guards, and disobey court orders. These are the actions of a teacher who has completely lost his moral compass,” the judge said.

He added: “Mr Burke makes much of the fact that his conscience will not let him call a pupil by their preferred pronoun. Yet his conscience seems undisturbed when he deliberately disrupts his pupils’ education and undermines the proper functioning of the school.”

Despite these criticisms, and notwithstanding Mr Burke’s repeated refusal to give an undertaking not to trespass at the school, the judge ordered his release from prison.

Outlining the reasons for the decision, the judge noted a "material change" in circumstances arising from the disciplinary appeals panel’s decision to reject Mr Burke’s appeal against his dismissal.

Mr Burke has now exhausted the internal appeals process regarding his employment at the school, his dismissal has been confirmed, and the Department of Education has ceased paying his salary, the judge noted.

“Absent any legal proceedings which might be brought by Mr Burke in respect of his dismissal, this dispute is now at an end and it is appropriate to release Mr Burke,” the judge said.

The judge said Mr Burke’s reasoning for continuing to attend the school was his insistence that he remained an employee and had a duty to teach, and that this would remain the case until the completion of the appeals process.

“It is now clear that this hopeless fiction is at an end. In those circumstances, it should be clear to Mr Burke that he has now reached the end of the road of the internal disciplinary procedures and that his position as a teacher in this school is now permanently at an end,” the judge said.

The judge also said Mr Burke’s release was unlikely to cause significant disruption at the school between now and September, given that it is closed for the summer break. He added that if Mr Burke returns to the school when the new academic year begins, the school can bring a new application to have him committed to prison.

In the circumstances, the judge said Mr Burke should be released. He noted that Mr Burke remains in contempt of the court order restraining him from trespassing at the school and will remain so until he purges that contempt.

“Whilst Mr Burke is perfectly entitled to his own religious views, he is not entitled to his own truth. Every time Mr Burke says that he is in prison because of his opposition to transgenderism, that is a clear falsehood ... The truth is Mr Burke is in prison because he is trespassing on school property,” the judge said.

“Mr Burke is entitled to his religious views on transgenderism. He is free to shout those views from the rooftops – so long as he remains outside the school gates and does not trespass and disrupt the education of the young pupils at the school,” he concluded.

The judge said he would rule later this month on the calculation of fines accrued by Mr Burke over the course of his dispute with the school.

He also said he would give further time to three of Mr Burke’s family members — his brother Isaac, mother Martina and sister Ammi — to make submissions on a potential order banning them from attending court hearings in person.

The trio have been removed from several hearings in Mr Burke’s various legal proceedings because of disruptive behaviour.