Enoch Burke to be arrested if he comes within 100m of school

Former teacher has been in court since 2022.

The High Court heard that he owes €238,268.18 in fines after defying court orders and trespassing at the school.

The former history and German teacher was dismissed from Wilson's Hospital School in May 2022 after a long dispute with management.

Former Wilson's Hospital School principal Niamh McShane previously told the High Court that Burke's behavior made her feel "hunted" and that he confronted her, including following her to her car and publicly disrupting a school service and staff meetings.

The row was sparked after it was requested to address a student by a new name and pronoun. Burke refused.

Mr Burke and his family, evangelical Christians from Co Mayo, argued this was unconstitutional and went against his right to express his religious beliefs.

The court was told that Burke has been at the school 15 times since the start of the school year, which is now subject to a daily fine of €2,000 per day.

He had already incurred fines of €208,268.18.

Burke has been ordered to provide a statement of his finances to the court within 21 days, including his income, expenses and assets.

The court was told that a similar order has previously been made against him, which he never complied with.

A recent order to arrest and jail Mr Burke was made following a number of breaches of the court order preventing him from trespassing at the school.

The school was granted an order restraining him from attending the school while he was suspended and dismissed, but he continued to attend in breach of the order.

He argues it is still his place of work, despite being suspended.

He has been imprisoned for more than 700 days for breaching court orders not to trespass at the school since the row began.

Gardaí have made two attempts to arrest Burke recently but have not been able to locate him.

Judge Cregan modified the order so that Mr Burke can be arrested if he trespasses within 100 metres of the school, he added that gardaí should not be wasting limited resources trying to find Mr Burke.