The board of management of the school where teacher Enoch Burke works wants an order allowing it to take temporary possession of his assets after he resumed breaching a High Court order.
Lawyers for Wilson's Hospital School in Co Westmeath got permission from the High Court this morning to give Mr Burke short notice of the proceedings, which will be back before the court tomorrow.
Barrister Rosemary Mallon told the court that Mr Burke's contempt of an injunction ordering him to stay away from the school had resumed on 5 January when the school reopened after the Christmas holidays and that he had attended at the school again this morning.
Ms Mallon said the school was not looking for Mr Burke to be committed to prison, but was instead looking for the sequestration of his assets up to 19 January.
Sequestration of assets in the context of contempt of court means taking temporary possession of a person's property until they obey the court's order.
Ms Mallon said Mr Burke was in the school this morning, but is due back in court tomorrow morning, where he is seeking his own injunction against the school to stop it holding a disciplinary meeting to consider allegations of misconduct against him.
Last week, the court heard that Mr Burke had received a letter from the school before Christmas informing him that the hearing, which was originally due to take place in September but had been put on hold following various legal proceedings, was now due to take place on 19 January.
Mr Burke, a German, History and debating teacher at the school, was released from prison on 21 December, after spending three-and-a-half months in Mountjoy Prison.
He was jailed on 5 September after breaching the order directing him to stay away from the school following his suspension on full pay.
This arose after a row about a request from a student for "they/them" pronouns to be used.
Ordering his release last month, Mr Justice Brian O'Moore said it was difficult to avoid the conclusion Mr Burke was exploiting his imprisonment for his own ends.
The judge said the only threat to Mr Burke’s continued freedom would be if he again breached a High Court order.
All matters will be back before Mr Justice O'Moore tomorrow.
