Enoch Burke's case highlights Ireland's problem with reincarceration

Enoch Burke’s repeated jailing prompts a wider reckoning on reincarceration, mental health, and whether punishment alone ever truly works

Enoch Burke in the back of a Garda car leaving the High Court last week. The court ordered he be returned to jail immediately for breaching a court order not to trespass at Wilson's Hospital school in Co Westmeath. Picture: Leah Farrell/ RollingNews.ie

Enoch Burke has been imprisoned again. Across comment sections on social media and in the kitchens of Ireland, a slow murmur is audible. The recognition that maybe imprisonment is disproportionate in this case.

Mr Burke was first imprisoned in September 2022 — since then he has been incarcerated for more than 550 days across four separate periods. Mr Burke's incarceration is as a result of repeatedly breaking a court order to stay away from his former place of work, Wilson’s Hospital school in Co Westmeath.