High Court orders release of Enoch Burke from prison

The High Court has ordered the release of teacher Enoch Burke from prison.

Mr Burke has spent almost 700 days in prison since September 2022 for breaching court orders to stay away from Wilson's Hospital School in Co Westmeath.

Mr Justice Brian Cregan said there had been a "material change in circumstances" last May when Mr Burke lost his appeal against his dismissal from the school for gross misconduct.

The judge said additionally the Department of Education had stopped paying his salary and the position was therefore that he had exhausted all internal appeals in respect of his employment, his dismissal had been confirmed and his employment was at an end.

Judge Cregan said this marked an important stage in the dispute between Mr Burke and the school and it was now appropriate to release him from prison.

The judge also said the school year was at an end and even if he did turn up at the school he was unlikely to cause any great disruption between now and September.

He said he understood the school was apprehensive that Mr Burke would turn up at the start of the school year but this could be dealt with again by another application to the court.

Judge Cregan said he had concluded that Mr Burke should be released from prison even though he had not purged his contempt and emphasised that the permanent injunction remains in place preventing him from trespassing at the school.

The judge said this remains a valid order of the High Court. He said the school has also indicated that if Mr Burke trespasses at the school again it will report him to gardaí and seek a criminal prosecution.

Mr Burke's obligation to pay the fines imposed by the court will remain and the exact amount will be clarified by the court at a later date.

The judge said while Mr Burke was "perfectly entitled to his religious view he is not entitled to his own truth. Every time he says that he is in prison because of his opposition to transgenderism, that is a clear falsehood. The truth is that a court has a duty under the law to set out precisely why Mr Burke is in prison and it has done so in written judgments on each occasion. The truth is that Mr Burke is in prison because he is trespassing on school property."

The judge added: "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 also said Mr Burke was an "unwelcome intruder on the school premises intent on causing as much disruption to the education of its young pupils as he can in his campaign against transgenderism".

He said he was entitled to protest outside the school gates but not to trespass on the property.

He said he was not entitled to enter the corridors, disrupt education and "try to bully and berate security guards and disobey court orders".

The judge added that these were the actions of a teacher "who has completely lost his moral compass".

The judge noted that Mr Burke wishes to appeal to the Supreme Court but said unless and until that court overturns the High Court order granting the permanent injunction, that order is lawful and binding and must be obeyed.