Enoch Burke claims €700 a day will make him ‘a pauper for his beliefs’, as judge imposes fine for his ‘utterly pointless’ school attendance

Schoolteacher Enoch Burke has refused to say if he will finally abide by a court order restraining him from attending at Wilson’s Hospital School now that he is facing being fined €700-a-day.

The High Court today ruled that Mr Burke be fined that amount each day he continues to defy the court order.

Mr Burke again turned up at the Co Westmeath School, the third time he has done so since his dismissal last Friday following a row which has its roots in his opposition on religious grounds to a request that a transgender pupil to be called by a new name. 

As he left the school shortly after 3.30pm this afternoon, he criticised the judge who made the ruling and claimed he was being fined for expressing his religious beliefs. He described the sum as “an astronomical amount of money” and said he had been saving to “scrape together” money for a house deposit.

However, he would not say whether he would now be purging his contempt or if he intended to continue showing up at the school.

“That is all I have to say at the moment,” he said.

Earlier this month the school applied for either the sequestration of Mr Burke’s assets or the issuing of a fine for his ongoing contempt.

In a ruling today, Mr Justice Brian O’Moore said the appropriate measure to deal with Mr Burke’s contempt of court was to impose a daily fine.

The €700-a-day fine will kick in tomorrow unless Mr Burke agrees to purge his contempt.

The judge said the fine amounted to “just shy” of €5,000-a-week.

“This figure should persuade Mr Burke to end his utterly pointless attendance at a school which does not want him on its property,” said Mr Justice O’Moore.

“If the daily fine that is now being imposed on Mr Burke does not have the desired effect, it can always be increased.”

Mr Justice O’Moore said Mr Burke had given a “quite surreal” explanation for his continued attendance at the school – that he was there “to work”.

“He was not provided with access to a classroom, was obviously not rostered to give any lessons, and was asked to leave by the school authorities,” the judge said.

“It simply cannot be the case that Mr Burke truly expected that he would be permitted to carry out any duties.”

Mr Justice O’Moore said he would again give Mr Burke an opportunity to purge his contempt but added that if he did not do so by 2pm tomorrow, the daily fine would kick in from then.

Mr Burke criticised the ruling.

"We are at a time in this country where people are at their wits end with the cost of everything, the cost of fuel, the cost of putting bread on the table, putting clothes on children’s backs, grocery bills gone up,” he said.

“And Brian O’Moore, a judge of the High Court, has sat down and said to himself that not only will you have to pay for those things but you have to pay for your religious beliefs.

“He will make you a pauper for the profession of your religious belief.”

Mr Justice O’Moore has previously said the court order restraining Mr Burke from attending the school does not in any way impinge on Mr Burke’s religious beliefs.

In his ruling, the judge said the fine would remain in place until the relevant parts of an order made by Mr Justice Max Barrett last September were vacated.

He also said the situation would be reviewed at a costs hearing on February 10

The judge said the elements of Mr Justice Barrett’s order which had been breached were those prohibiting Mr Burke from attending at the school premises “for the duration of his paid administrative leave” and prohibiting him from “trespassing on the property” of the school.

The teacher of history and German previously spent 108 days in prison for contempt of court last year.

He was jailed for refusing to comply with court orders restraining him from attending at or attempting to teach pupils at the Church of Ireland diocesan school in Multyfarnham.

The school obtained the orders last September after Mr Burke kept turning up for work despite being suspended on full pay.

The suspension arose after he clashed with management over a request that “they/their” pronouns and a new name be used in connection with a transgender pupil.

Mr Burke, who is from a well-known family of evangelical Christians, objected to the “demand” on religious grounds.

He opposed the application for sequestration or a fine, claiming the court did not have the power to impose such a sanction.

Mr Burke claimed this was because Mr Justice Barrett’s order was “invalid, being manifestly unconstitutional and lawful” and “without legal effect, an absolute nullity from their inception”.

“I have breached no valid order of the court,” he claimed.

But his arguments were rejected by Mr Justice O’Moore in a 23-page ruling.

The judge said that unless Mr Justice Barrett’s orders are reversed by the Court of Appeal, they remain valid orders “which must be obeyed”.

He said Mr Burke’s claim the orders were invalid was “entirely misconceived”.

“Without the consent of the board of management Mr Burke had no right to be on the school premises. On the evidence before me, no such consent is forthcoming; the opposite is the case,” the judge said.

“The reason given by Mr Burke for his attendance - that he was at the school 'to work' - is quite surreal.”

Mr Burke refused to divulge his earnings to the court at a hearing earlier this month.

A lawyer for the school said it believed he earned in the region of €48,000 before tax.

He also has income from giving grinds to students as well as from the sales of book he has authored on religious issues. It is unclear if he has any further sources of income.

Mr Burke was arrested for alleged trespass at the school on Tuesday but he was subsequently released without a charge and immediately returned to the school grounds. A file is being prepared for the Director of Public Prosecutions.

The teacher claims he was unlawfully arrested.

On each occasion he has turned up at the school since his dismissal he has been denied entry to its buildings and has stood outside.

He again showed up at the school this morning, arriving in an SUV driven by his father Sean at 8.42am.