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Enoch Burke, a former history and German teacher, will remain in prison after he appeared in the High Court on Tuesday and refused to comply with an order prohibiting him from entering Wilson’s Hospital School in Co Westmeath.
Burke was given the chance to purge his contempt of court during the video-link hearing, which would have allowed his release, but he declined. His ongoing legal battle with the school began in 2022 after he was suspended, and later dismissed, for refusing a request from the then-principal to refer to a student by a new name and pronoun.
Burke has consistently maintained that the school’s direction violated his constitutional rights and religious beliefs. He has now spent more than 650 days in custody for repeatedly breaching court orders barring him from the school grounds.
Appearing in court exactly four years after the dispute started, Burke told Mr Justice Brian Cregan:
I shouldn’t be in prison, I should be in my classroom. I should be with my students.
When asked if he would return to the school if released, Burke replied that he had worked there faithfully for eight years and did not consider his presence trespassing. The judge responded that Burke was clearly aware he was breaching a High Court order and showed no willingness to purge his contempt.
Mr Justice Cregan noted that Burke could be freed at any time if he agreed to stay away from the school, adding that neither the school nor the court wanted him imprisoned.
This article was originally published by SnDMedia.
