Two members of the disciplinary appeals panel, hearing teacher Enoch Burke's appeal against his dismissal from Wilson’s Hospital School in Co Westmeath, have resigned.
The High Court was told that Department of Education nominee Seán Ó Longáin and Jack Cleary, child protection advisor with the Joint Managerial Body For Voluntary Secondary Schools, have stepped down on legal advice.
However, Association of Secondary Teachers, Ireland representative, Geraldine O’Brien, remains on the panel, despite being accused by Mr Burke of objective bias.
The body convened to hear his appeal last December.
Mr Burke made a number of complaints about the hearing, including a complaint that he had not been allowed to cross-examine witnesses.
The panel said that it would hold a further hearing. However, Mr Burke began further legal proceedings and sought an injunction against the body.
Senior Counsel Padraic Lyons, on behalf of the panel members, said the specific reasons for the resignations were covered by legal privilege.
But he said they would avoid lengthy legal proceedings and clear the way for new nominations to a panel to hear the appeal.
Mr Lyons said that Mr Burke’s proceedings against the body were no longer necessary or "moot" and he struggled to see how a continuation of the injunction application could be in anyone’s interests.
Mr Burke was dismissed by the school's board of management in January 2023, but he remains on full pay from the Department of Education, pending the outcome of the appeal.
His salary is being diverted to pay fines that he has incurred for contempt of court.
Mr Burke appeared at today’s hearing by videolink and accused the panel of being a "shambles".
He said there was "something rotten" at the heart of the process and accused members of "skipping it, making off" instead of answering questions.
Mr Burke also told Mr Justice Brian Cregan that he would be seeking permission to bring a late appeal against the order, made against in May 2023, banning him from trespassing at the school.
He claimed that a statement from the Department of Education last month confirmed that there was no legal obligation on schools to comply with a request to use a pupil’s preferred pronouns.
This showed, Mr Burke said, that the ruling imposing a permanent injunction on him to stay away from the school was "fatally flawed".
He was suspended and finally dismissed from Wilson’s Hospital School after publicly expressing his objections to being asked to use "they/them" pronouns for a student.
Mr Justice Cregan said that he did not see how Mr Burke’s action against the panel could be moot, given that Ms O'Brien remained on it.
He said that he wanted to see those proceedings dealt with quickly.
The judge adjourned the matter until 20 February when Mr Burke will be brought from prison to argue the case in person.
His brother, Isaac, had to be removed from court after he tried to interrupt the proceedings.
