Secondary school teacher Enoch Burke has been jailed for a second time for breaching a High Court order to stay away from the school where he worked.
The court was asked by lawyers for Wilson's Hospital School in Co Westmeath to take what they called the "radical step" of jailing Mr Burke, saying the situation was unsustainable and the school was at the end of its ability to tolerate his presence on the premises.
Mr Burke described the school’s application as "manifestly diabolical". But Judge Mark Heslin said his contempt of court was "manifestly clear".
The judge gave his ruling despite interruptions from a number of members of Mr Burke’s family who were asked to leave court or were removed from court by gardaí.
Mr Burke was then taken across the road to the Bridewell Garda Station before being transferred to Mountjoy Prison.
The judge said Mr Burke was to remain in Mountjoy indefinitely or until he purges his contempt by giving an undertaking to stay away from Wilson’s Hospital School. The detention will be reviewed early next month.
The court was told Mr Burke has been turning up at the school since the new school year began on 25 August despite a permanent injunction granted earlier this year forbidding him from trespassing on the school’s premises.
Senior Counsel Alex White said that if Mr Burke could not enter the school building, he stood outside it, still on the school grounds.
Mr White said the evidence from the sworn documents submitted to the court by the chairman of the board of management, John Rogers and the principal, Frank Milling showed Mr Burke's continued presence was "manifestly inimical" to the proper functioning of the school.
The court heard the school had tried to raise matters with An Garda Síochána but were told by gardaí that it was a civil matter. Mr White said the school had also considered private security, but that Mr Rogers could not countenance the school becoming "some kind of prison patrolled by security contractors".
He said Mr Burke's presence was a massive distraction to staff and students and was disrupting the operation of the school. The court was told staff members had expressed "worry and upset" about the situation.
The principal, Mr Milling, said in his affidavit that he was locking doors to keep Mr Burke outside, which created a health and safety issue. He said he was also spending significant time trying to prevent Mr Burke from entering the school or monitoring him when he entered the premises.
Mr Milling said he was finding it difficult to carry out his functions as principal and was also concerned about students, in particular first years, having to navigate through a school where a person was continually trespassing.
He said it was a frightening situation where a person was able to blatantly ignore the orders of the court.
Mr White said Mr Burke’s presence at the school served no useful purpose and his only purpose seemed to be to demonstrate his defiance.
He said constitutional rights were seldom absolute. Mr Burke, he said, seemed to be of the view that his rights trumped the rights of others. He said the school was "with considerable reluctance" asking the court to take the "radical step" of jailing Mr Burke.
In reply, Mr Burke said it was a long time since the High Court had to deal with such a "manifestly diabolical" application.
The High Court has ordered teacher Enoch Burke should be jailed for a second time for continuing to turn up at a school in defiance of a court injunction ordering him not to | Read more: https://t.co/A9OYMb3gAH pic.twitter.com/wX1a45wNmz
— RTÉ News (@rtenews) September 8, 2023
He said the application to have him jailed should not be countenanced by the court and the court was "dipping its hands in blood" by doing so.
He claimed the court was being asked to decide between a "hanging and a shooting" because he would not deny his conscience and encourage young people down what he described as "the destructive path of transgenderism".
Mr Burke has appealed the decision to dismiss him. The appeal board hearing has not yet been held pending the outcome of a legal challenge by Mr Burke to the composition of the board.
He told the court he was awaiting reinstatement in his classroom. He said he had a right to a job and to participate in civic society while exercising freedom of conscience.
He described the orders of the court forbidding him from attending the school as fundamentally flawed.
Mr Burke said since he had returned to the school he had received support from students, parents and other staff members. He said he had been greeted by students who asked him how he was and told him to "stay strong".
He said he also received support from parents, one of whom told him they totally agreed with what he was doing. And he said some staff members also sympathised with him and that he was told by one staff member that others were dissatisfied with the way the school was dealing with the matter.
Mr Burke said the students "en masse" had been "enthusiastically" in support of his presence at the school, at one point "begging" him to sign their shirts and blouses and annuals as well as shaking his hand and taking photos at the end of the last school year.
He described it as a "flash mob" and said students were "desperate" for him to sign scraps of paper and even a flag.
He said it was distasteful that the school's lawyers would say in court that none of this was true.
He claimed statements by the principal and the chairman of the board of management about fear, stress and disruption at the school were outright lies.
Mr Burke also told the court the school’s solicitor had called gardaí to ask for him to be arrested, describing this as a "very serious matter".
He said the court was not entitled to reach a decision based on false and fraudulent evidence and the school was seeking to have him jailed for refusing to "dish out something to young people that could destroy them".
He said the court had no moral or legal authority to make the orders sought by the school.
In his ruling, Judge Heslin said what was before the court was a very net issue where the school alleged Mr Burke had breached a court order. He said the evidence before the court, including Mr Burke’s own evidence, put that beyond doubt.
The judge said Mr Burke did not dispute he had breached the court’s order and he had also demonstrated that he had no intention of altering that stance.
As he gave his ruling, Mr Burke’s mother, Martina told the judge he was a traitor to the Constitution.
When members of the Burke family interrupted the ruling for a second time, the judge adjourned proceedings for five minutes telling the Burkes he was doing so to "allow the temperature on your side to cool".
Mr Burke’s sister Ammi was asked by gardaí to leave court due to another interruption. Another sister Jemima was asked to leave after a further interruption.
His brother Isaac was carried out by gardaí after falling to his knees when he was approached. His father, Sean, also fell to his knees but walked out after gardaí lifted him to his feet.
At least a dozen gardaí were outside the court as the ruling was given.
Judge Heslin said an order committing someone to prison should be a matter of last resort and he said deliberate disobedience of a court order was an extremely serious matter.
He said it was the will of the Irish people, expressed in the Constitution and legislation that court orders must be observed. It was an insult to every law-abiding citizen for someone who was the subject of a court order to decide unilaterally that it should be ignored, which he said was the stance Mr Burke was adopting.
The judge said a court order was not an a la carte menu and it seemed that Mr Burke’s central proposition was that he should be treated differently to every other citizen. Mr Burke’s breach of the order was flagrant and his intention was to continue breaching it.
He asked Mr Burke three times if he wanted to purge his contempt and give an undertaking to stay away from the school. However, Mr Burke refused to give an answer each time.
It is just over a year since Mr Burke was jailed for the first time after he was suspended from his position and jailed for breaching a subsequent court order.
The disciplinary procedure against him began after he objected to a request from the then principal to call a student by a new name and use "they/them" pronouns. He objected at a staff meeting and again at a religious service in June 2022.
The court heard evidence of Mr Burke's behaviour at the event in June, when he publicly voiced his objections to "transgenderism", and at subsequent meetings held where his behaviour had been discussed.
He was jailed for more than three months in Mountjoy Prison and released shortly before Christmas.
After Christmas, he again continued to attend the school despite the imposition by the High Court of a daily fine of €700.
In his judgment in May, Mr Justice Alex Owens said the school was entitled to suspend Mr Burke in August 2022, and granted the board a permanent injunction prohibiting him from attending at its premises, as well as granting damages of €15,000 for his continuing trespass.
The judge said the school's decision to suspend Mr Burke was "rational and reasonable".
Mr Burke, denied any wrongdoing and brought a counterclaim claiming that the disciplinary proceedings against him were unlawful and in breach of his rights.
However, this was dismissed by the court.
