Irish teacher Enoch Burke released from prison

Enoch Burke pictured leaving an earlier court hearing (March 2023)

An Irish High Court judge has ordered the release of teacher Enoch Burke from Mountjoy Prison.

Mr Justice Mark Sanfey directed that Mr Burke be freed from the Dublin prison, where he has been incarcerated since September.

This was due to his refusal to stay away from Wilson's Hospital School in County Westmeath.

The judge said that following a review of the situation, the fact examinations are now completed and the school is on holidays, he was directing the teacher's release.

The court did not require Mr Burke to purge his contempt with an agreement to comply with the terms of an order made against him last year, the judge said.

Last May, the High Court ruled that a decision by the school to suspend Mr Burke in August 2022 was correct.

Wilson's Hospital School had asked the court to find that it had been right to place Mr Burke on paid leave pending the outcome of a disciplinary process.

He had argued that was unlawful and a result of his opposition to the extension of transgender rights, following a direction by the school to call a former student by a different pronoun.

The school had also obtained a High Court injunction requiring him to stay away from the premises during his suspension.

'No hesitation'

Mr Burke was jailed for contempt, for a second time, last September due to his refusal to comply with that order.

Overall the teacher has spent more than 400 days in prison.

In his ruling, Mr Justice Sanfey expressed hope that Mr Burke would use the time to reflect on the situation and warned the teacher that the injunction remains in place.

If there were any further breaches of the order the judge said he would have "no hesitation" in entertaining a fresh application by the school to have Mr Burke committed back to prison.

After the court made its order, Mr Burke left the Four Courts with members of his family.

Mr Burke has at all times denied being in contempt of court, and says he was wrongfully imprisoned because of his objections to "transgenderism"

Mr Burke appeared before the court on Friday as part of his bid to set aside what he claims is the "gravely flawed and unconstitutional" order made by Mr Justice Owens.

That order had underpinned his incarceration.

The judge heard submissions from both the teacher and the school over whether the court has the jurisdiction to entertain an application by the teacher to have the judgement by Mr Justice Owens set aside.

Alex White SC for Wilson's Hospital School said the school "fully rejects" the suggestion that Mr Burke's constitutional rights were breached.

The teacher's application amounted to a "gross abuse of the court," was "unsustainable," and is "bound to fail", he continued.

As a general rule judges cannot set aside orders made by judges of the same divisions of the courts.

What the teacher was trying to do in this application, counsel added, was to appeal a decision Mr Burke does not like "by the back door."

The counsel added Mr Burke had the option of appealing Mr Justice Owen's decision but chose not to.

Following the conclusion of what were sometimes heated interactions between the judge and Mr Burke, Mr Justice Sanfey reserved his judgement and said that he would give his decision in the coming weeks.

Why was Enoch Burke in prison?

Enoch Burke had been in Mountjoy Prison in Dublin since September 2023 after refusing to comply with court orders not to attend the school where he worked.

He was suspended by Wilson's Hospital School in County Westmeath in August 2022 after he confronted his then-principal in public at a school event in June - Mr Burke objected to addressing a student who was transitioning gender with a new name and using the "they" pronoun.

After he was suspended, he continued to turn up for his timetabled hours and so a court injunction was put in place to try to stop him from doing so.

After he breached the court order he was jailed in September 2022 and although he was released three months later he was jailed again in September 2023 for breaching another court order.

Enoch Burke outside Wilson's Hospital School in January 2023

Mr Burke has at all times denied being in contempt of court.

He says he was wrongfully imprisoned because of his objections to "transgenderism" following a direction by the school to call a then student by a different pronoun.

In his submissions to the court Mr Burke argued that the High Court does have the jurisdiction to consider his application to set aside Mr Justice Owen's injunction.

Mr Burke argued that in his judgement Mr Justice Owens completely disregarded his constitutional rights of freedom of conscience and the free profession and practice of religion when he refused to comply with the school's direction to call a then student by a different name and use the pronoun "they".

This resulted in the proceedings against him, which Mr Burke said had resulted in him losing two years of his life.

Having to call somebody "they", the teacher claimed, has no basis in Irish law.