A High Court judge has said it is "extremely unsatisfactory" that secondary school teacher Enoch Burke is still being paid his full salary while the State is also incurring the costs of his continued imprisonment in Mountjoy Prison.
Mr Justice Mark Sanfey made his remarks while reviewing Mr Burke’s imprisonment for contempt of a High Court order directing him to stay away from Wilson’s Hospital School in Co Westmeath.
Mr Burke was jailed for the second time last September for breaching the order and has spent 172 days in prison since 8 September.
He had previously spent 108 days in prison in 2022, also for contempt of court.
The matter was before the court to see if Mr Burke was willing to purge his contempt by giving an undertaking to abide by the court’s order.
Mr Justice Sanfey said that in March last year, another High Court judge ordered Mr Burke to pay a total fine of €23,800 for his contempt of court and seemed to invite the school to make an application for the sequestration of Mr Burke’s assets.
However he was told no application had been made, no fines had ever been paid and Mr Burke had not been pursued for the costs of any court proceedings to date.
Mr Burke appealed his dismissal from the school and his appeal has yet to be heard, following an unsuccessful challenge by him to the composition of the appeal board.
Senior Counsel Alex White for the school said Mr Burke remained on administrative leave on full salary while the appeal process was in "abeyance".
Enoch Burke told the court it was a disgrace that it had made such an order.
Mr Burke made repeated submissions to the court about the original report grounding his suspension in August 2022, compiled by the school’s previous principal, Niamh McShane. He said the report was about his "non-acceptance of transgenderism". And he said he was "begging" the court to purge its contempt" of the report and acknowledge what he claimed was the truth that he had been disciplined because of his beliefs.
Mr White said the school acknowledged that Mr Burke was entitled to hold any views he wished but there was a dispute about whether his views should prevail in the school and about his conduct.
Mr Burke said he was being asked to do something that was wrong and evil and accused the courts of "lying" from day one.
Mr Justice Sanfey said Mr Burke could make arguments in his usual "cogent and eloquent" manner to the appeal board deciding on his dismissal.
But he said the only function the court had today was whether or not Mr Burke was willing to obey the court’s order to stay away from the school.
The judge described the situation as "extremely unsatisfactory" - Mr Burke was being paid his salary, and the state was incurring the costs of his imprisonment.
He said Mr Burke did not seem to have made any attempt to pay the costs or the fines.
Judge Sanfey said he was left with very little option but to continue Mr Burke’s imprisonment although he said this option was "profoundly unsatisfactory".
The judge adjourned the matter until 22 March.
But he said he would like affidavits and submissions from the school on that date, about the extent to which alternatives to imprisonment had been approached by the school or considered by it.
He said the court would not permit a situation where orders were being flouted.
Mr Burke said the court’s decision made a mockery of him. And he told Mr Justice Sanfey he was a "man of truth".
