There has been no application by Wilson’s Hospital School in Westmeath to jail teacher Enoch Burke again as his case returned to the High Court on Tuesday.
The lawyer representing the Church of Ireland school confirmed that the school was not making an application at this stage to attach and commit the History and German teacher to prison for contempt of court.
Alex White, barrister for the school board said that the school was not seeking an order to have Mr Burke committed to Mountjoy Prison for a third time for contempt of court owing to his presence on school premises this term. Alternatively, he said the school wanted to see if a new approach to recoup fines owed by Mr Burke would lead to a solution.
On Tuesday, the High Court heard that Attorney General Rossa Fanning SC is seeking to sequester the assets of Mr Burke, who has been accused of breaching a court order by attending the school. The application in question concerns some €190,000 in fines against Mr Burke which have been building up since early 2023.
A barrister representing the Attorney General (AG) and the Ministers for Finance and Education had been invited before the court to speak about possible ways to recoup the fines.
Mr White told the court that the school would prefer if the Attorney General take the lead in the case, stating: “We have been in court on numerous occasions, and don’t want to go down that road again.”
The court heard arguments centring on whether Mr Fanning could initiate action or if the school itself was the one which should seek enforcement. The teacher, who is currently suspended pending a disciplinary hearing, is still being paid his salary by the State. His salary is one potential source for recovering the fines. It is the first time the State has been prepared to use a legal power to deduct unpaid fines directly from Mr Burke’s salary or bank account, the High Court heard.
Brian Kennedy SC told the court that it would be legally possible for Wilson’s Hospital School to sequester Mr Burke’s assets, but that would have the effect of “freezing” his bank account, and that further steps would have to be taken to recoup the fines. The alternative, he said, was a garnishee order, meaning that the fines could be taken directly from his wages or bank account.
“From the Attorney General’s point of view, there is no reason why such an order could not be made,” counsel said.
In a letter read in court before Judge Nolan, Mr Burke slammed the proposal to deduct fines from his salary as “illegal, unprecedented, and gravely disturbing,” saying that it amounted to an attempt to “strip me of my livelihood.”
While he was not present in person, his brother Isaac, a barrister, attended the hearing.
Earlier this month, Mr Burke, who returned to his former place of work after the Christmas holidays, said that he had been “welcomed by students” showing their support at the school.
“I just want to emphasise that I am here today to work. I really want to make that absolutely clear. I come here to my place of work, Wilson’s Hospital School, to do my job and to do my work. To do my job as a teacher of German and History,” he told press on the first day back. The teacher has repeatedly claimed that his imprisonment and subsequent fines came about due to his refusal to use the “they/them” pronouns for a pupil at the school.
Describing the situation as “horrific,” he said: “I was welcomed by students knocking on the windows, waving from the classrooms and showing their support. This is my job – I’m just a teacher at the school. This could all be over today, all of this horrific situation – and it is a horrific situation – it could be over today if the judges did what they should have done.”
Mr Burke has spent over 500 days in jail since August 2022 but has been released outside of term time.
This week, Mr Burke returned to the grounds of the school. The court heard that the school had reported ongoing disruption from his presence and the attendance of supporters. Mr Burke has continually said that he upheld the Christian ethos of the Church of Ireland school, and that he “couldn’t teach children something that is simply wrong.”
Mr Burke’s X account has posted updates, with his brother Isaac explaining in a video message posted in the middle of January that Enoch had attended the Schoo since the beginning of the new school term.
“With temperatures plummeting to minus three, minus four degrees at times – and Enoch forced to stand outside the door of this place where he is an employee, and remains an employee in his seventh year of employment.”
“There’s very little you can do in a situation like that but to keep moving to keep your blood moving. It’s very cold,” Mr Burke said. “I got on well, was loved by the students, and indeed over the last week, students were knocking, waving, looking for selfies. But it all goes back to 2022 when I was asked to accept transgenderism, and I said that was something I couldn’t do. It’s now 2025 […] this is the third year this has been going on, and it could be over today.”
The judge has ordered Mr Burke to submit written responses within two weeks.