Judge orders the arrest of Enoch Burke after ‘trespassing’ at school

A judge has ordered Enoch Burke be arrested so he can be brought to court on Monday morning to hear whether he will be sent back to prison for breaching a court order.

On Tuesday the High Court heard how Mr Burke trespassed at Wilson’s Hospital School for a second day in a row after being released from Mountjoy Prison.

On Wednesday, Mr Justice Brian Cregan said he should be released to prepare for a case launched against an appeals body due to review his dismissal from the Westmeath school.

However, on Thursday, he appeared at the school gates along with a number of protesters.

Rosemary Mallon, a barrister representing the school’s board of management, told the court Mr Burke had trespassed again on Friday morning.

Mr Burke did not appear in court and Ms Mallon said a secretary for Mason Hayes and Curran had confirmed she had emailed him, at his personal address, about the hearing and had not received a “bounce back”.

Speaking outside the school after the hearing, Mr Burke said: “I teach here, I’m not trespassing.”

He added that he was there “to work”.

“Judge Creagan knew exactly what was going to happen today, and yesterday,” Mr Burke told reporters.

Responding to questions, he described his potential return to prison as a “monstrosity”, adding “it’s a terrible place to be, in prison”.

Ms Mallon said Mr Burke’s presence at the school had caused an “unprecedented and significant impact on the work of the school”.

She said the school’s principal Noel Cunningham had to rearrange security at short notice, liaise with the security, address issues in the school which arose from students, parents and teachers dealing with protesters and contact the school’s solicitors at short notice.

“None of that is what a principal should be doing,” she added.

The judge made “an order of attachment” instructing Mr Burke be brought to court on Monday to “give his version of events”.

It is at that hearing Mr Cregan will decide whether Mr Burke should be returned to prison.

He also instructed Ms Mallon to submit an affidavit from the principal Mr Cunningham outlining the events of this week.

Mr Burke had been in jail since late November for breaches of a court order directing him not to trespass at Wilson’s Hospital School, where he worked as a teacher.

Last week, he sought a temporary injunction against a disciplinary appeals body tasked with reviewing his dismissal from the school.

Before the High Court on Wednesday, Mr Cregan said Mr Burke had raised “substantive” and “credible” issues in papers prepared against the Disciplinary Appeals Panel (DAP).

The judge said he was directing that Mr Burke be released from prison for “one reason and one reason only”, in the interest of the administration of justice and so that he has time to prepare for his case against the DAP.

The judge had said the decision was being made on the basis that he would not attend the school and he would be brought back to prison if he did.