Enoch Burke removed from court by gardai

Enoch Burke has been removed from the High Court, with a judge in his case against a disciplinary body ordering gardai to return him to Mountjoy Prison, where the proceedings are due to resume via videolink.

Mr Burke had sought a temporary injunction against a Disciplinary Appeals Panel (DAP) body that was reviewing the decision to dismiss him from Wilson’s Hospital School.

Friday’s hearing was called to discuss the process following two resignations form the DAP and whether the board of management of Wilson’s Hospital School could join the proceedings as a notice party.

At the outset, Mr Justice Brian Cregan warned Mr Burke that he would direct gardai to return him to Mountjoy Prison if he strayed beyond behaviour that the court deemed acceptable.

He has been imprisoned at Mountjoy Prison over contempt of court relating to breaches of orders not to trespass at the school.

As Mr Burke interjected while Rosemary Mallon, the barrister for the board of management, was outlining proposals to constitute a new DAP, the judge ordered him to sit down.

When he did not sit down, Mr Justice Cregan directed gardai to return him to Mountjoy Prison amid opposition from members of his family.

As he was being escorted by gardai, Mr Burke accused the court of an “abuse of power” and said: “This is absolutely disgraceful, I have a right to justice.”

His mother, Martina, questioned why Ms Mallon was allowed to speak and told the barrister she was a “foreign presence” in the court.

Mr Burke’s sister, Ammi, said that Geraldine O’Brien, the Association of Secondary Teachers in Ireland (ASTI) representative on the DAP, was still sitting on the panel, which the family said was still in existence.

Mr Burke’s mother and sister were also escorted out of the court by gardai.

He said it was “disgraceful to drag my family out of court”.

The long-running legal dispute between the board of management of the Co Westmeath school and Mr Burke stems from incidents over a request in 2022 from the school’s then-principal to address a student by a new name and pronoun.

Mr Burke, an Evangelical Christian who taught German and history at the school, has repeatedly argued that the direction was unconstitutional and went against his right to express his religious beliefs.

Earlier in Friday’s proceedings, Mr Burke had argued that Ms Mallon and the board of management should not be present nor added as a notice party in his dispute with the DAP.

He said he “absolutely” objected to them being added to proceedings, arguing that solicitors for the school had engaged in “lying” and “prevarication”.

He accused Ms Mallon of telling a “very serious lie” that his dismissal had nothing to do with his personal views.

“They have no business being here today.”

He added: “They are a foreign presence in the court this morning.”

Ms Mallon told the court she did not intend to “deal with the personalised attacks” against the legal representatives.

Mr Justice Cregan replied: “Nor should you.”

Ms Mallon argued that there was no prejudice against Mr Burke about the board of management being added as a notice party, and that her clients would be “impacted by the outcome of the proceedings” at the DAP.

She said Mr Burke was still on the payroll of the Department of Education.

She noted that Mr Burke had objections to Ms O’Brien and the ASTI, and said the board of management had put forward proposals that a new DAP could be formed with a representative of the Teachers Union of Ireland instead or with, his agreement, a representative from an independent body such as the Low Society, Bar Council or the Irish Congress of Trade Unions due to the “exceptional circumstances” in the case.

Ms Mallon was reading from a letter that had been sent to Mr Burke and he objected to this being read out in court.

It was at this point that Mr Burke did not follow Mr Justice Cregan’s order for him to sit down and he was returned to Mountjoy Prison.

The proceedings are scheduled to resume with Mr Burke attending via videolink on Friday afternoon.