{"id":299531,"date":"2026-01-23T13:47:08","date_gmt":"2026-01-23T13:47:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/299531\/"},"modified":"2026-01-23T13:47:08","modified_gmt":"2026-01-23T13:47:08","slug":"to-free-or-not-to-free-enoch-burke-that-is-the-question-haunting-judges-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/299531\/","title":{"rendered":"To free or not to free Enoch Burke? That is the question haunting judges \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

To free or not to free Enoch Burke<\/a>? That is the question haunting the courts as the teacher was again returned to prison<\/a> this week for continuing contempt of court orders to stay away from the midlands school where he wants to continue teaching.<\/p>\n

Burke, the Co Mayo man known for his strongly held evangelical Christian beliefs and socially conservative views, was sent back to jail on Monday by the High Court<\/a> after he turned up at Wilson\u2019s Hospital School in Co Westmeath on January 15th after Mr Justice Brian Cregan had directed his release less than 24 hours earlier. <\/p>\n

Having spent more than 560 days behind bars, Burke\u2019s time in prison for civil contempt far exceeds that of others jailed for civil contempt in modern times. <\/p>\n

The record time spent in prison for contempt predates Irish independence: an Ellen Ryan was detained for 759 days between 1898 and 1900 for failing to pay money into court as ordered by the Master of the Rolls. <\/p>\n

In the early 1900s, a man named Patrick Kavanagh was detained for 602 days before being moved to a psychiatric facility.<\/p>\n

More recent jailed \u201ccontemnors\u201d \u2013 people found in contempt of court \u2013 include businessman Se\u00e1n Quinn snr and his son Se\u00e1n jnr, jailed for nine weeks and three months respectively in 2012 for contempt of orders not to put assets beyond the reach of the State-owned Irish Bank Resolution Corporation. <\/p>\n

Five men known as the Rossport Five, who breached an injunction restraining interference with works on their lands in Co Mayo associated with construction of a gas pipeline by Shell Ireland, were freed in 2013 after 94 days. They were released without purging their contempt after Shell asked the court to lift the injunction and the court decided there was no purpose to their continued imprisonment. <\/p>\n

Some farmers and property owners have, in separate recent cases, spent periods in jail for contempt of orders restraining interference with bank-appointed receivers, including more than 100 days in at least one case.<\/p>\n

\"EnochEnoch Burke’s continued refusal to comply with court orders poses a real dilemma for the courts and the rule of law. Photograph: Colin Keegan\/Collins Dublin <\/p>\n

Burke\u2019s time in jail pales in comparison with an American contemnor who spent more than 14 years in prison in a dispute with his ex-wife over the disposal of $2.5 million assets. <\/p>\n

Burke\u2019s fines are also a lot less than the \u00a32 million fine imposed in 2021 on an Italian princess, Camilla de Bourbon des Deux Siciles, after Jersey\u2019s Royal Court held she had failed to disclose the location of assets making up her multimillion-pound fortune. <\/p>\n

She appealed but last October, despite a settlement of an underlying trust dispute, the court refused to fully discharge the contempt finding <\/p>\n

None of that is likely to be of any comfort to Burke, the school or the Irish courts. <\/p>\n

The Burke case poses a real dilemma for the courts and the rule of law. \u201cWhat to do about Enoch?\u201d is a difficult subject much discussed in legal circles and wider society, but no solution has emerged to date. <\/p>\n

Burke maintains his imprisonment is rooted in his opposition to \u201ctransgenderism\u201d, while the school, and the courts, have repeatedly said it has nothing to do with this and is due to his breach of court orders of August 2023 requiring him to stay away from the school pending the outcome of a disciplinary process. <\/p>\n

That process arose from his conduct at a school religious service towards the then principal, who had earlier requested teachers to refer to a particular student by their preferred new name and the pronouns \u201cthey\u201d and \u201cthem\u201d. <\/p>\n

Lawyer Gary McCarthy SC, who has represented the Revenue Commissioners and receivers in civil contempt matters, said the Burke case was \u201creally difficult and really rare\u201d.<\/p>\n

Being jailed delivers a \u201cshort, sharp shock\u201d resulting in compliance by most civil contemnors, he said. In more difficult cases, he has seen the courts devise \u201ccreative\u201d ways to achieve compliance, including seizing assets of the contemnor. <\/p>\n

In Burke\u2019s case, various penalties have so far proved unsuccessful. Imprisonment, daily substantial fines and a March 2025 conditional court order appointing a receiver to collect more than \u20ac79,000 in accumulated fines from his \u20ac48,000 annual teacher\u2019s salary have all not forced Burke to comply with the courts.<\/p>\n

The many judges who have dealt with the case have \u201cbent over backwards\u201d trying to be fair and to accommodate Burke but to no avail, said McCarthy. <\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t envy the court, it has tried absolutely everything. When someone refuses to comply, what can judges do? At the end of the day, the law must be obeyed. People cannot just say: \u2018I\u2019m going to live by my rules\u2019, and ignore court orders.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mediation is not an option because that requires people to shift from their positions, said McCarthy. <\/p>\n

\u201cBurke sees himself as a martyr, this is his cause. The only thing that will satisfy him is to give him his job back and that is not going to happen,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

[\u00a0Diarmaid Ferriter: Enoch Burke\u2019s ferocious desire for martyrdom has roots in Irish lifeOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

A judge cannot \u201cgive in\u201d to Burke, said McCarthy. Public policy requires the law must be obeyed and the school is entitled not to be subject to the disruption and costs resulting from Burke\u2019s contempt, he said. <\/p>\n

There is a \u201ccompeting\u201d public policy, \u201cnot to have people languishing in jail indefinitely\u201d, and the court\u2019s job is \u201cto find a balance\u201d. <\/p>\n

That balance, he suggested, might be achieved by reviewing the situation at fixed periods, perhaps every two or three months, and possibly releasing Burke during school holidays.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe court has to uphold the law, unpalatable as it is to have someone languishing in jail. There can be only one winner in this.\u201d<\/p>\n

[\u00a0Mark O’Connell: I would not quite say I admire Enoch Burke, but I do find him weirdly impressiveOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

Another lawyer with contempt law expertise, who declined to be named, said the Burke situation was \u201cvery difficult\u201d. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s like the U2 song: he\u2019s stuck in a moment he can\u2019t get out of but he\u2019s got to get himself together.\u201d<\/p>\n

The lawyer believes a point has been reached where the High Court, as \u201ca court of equity\u201d, might consider restraining a separate case by Burke. <\/p>\n

That concerns a hearing before a disciplinary appeals panel (DAP) of his appeal over the school\u2019s decision dismissing him from his teaching position. His salary continues to be paid pending the outcome of that appeal. <\/p>\n

After Burke successfully challenged the composition of an earlier DAP, the panel was reconstituted but Burke, in his latest challenge, claims one of its members is objectively biased. <\/p>\n

\"EnochEnoch Burke seems to see himself as a martyr. Photograph: Brian Lawless\/PA Wire <\/p>\n

Mr Justice Cregan had ordered his release from prison last week to give him an opportunity to prepare that case, which, the judge said, raised \u201ccredible\u201d points. Burke responded he intended to go straight back to the school and did not require time to prepare for his case, which, he said, was \u201cblack and white\u201d. That, the judge remarked, amounted to his \u201cusual bluster\u201d.<\/p>\n

The lawyer said a person seeking orders from a court of equity is required to come to court with \u201cclean hands\u201d and there is an issue whether Burke can seek reliefs from the court when he himself is in \u201cserious contempt\u201d of its orders. <\/p>\n

There was an issue whether Burke should be required to purge his contempt in order to have standing to pursue any relief from the court, he said. <\/p>\n

Any \u201cgenerosity or good grace\u201d shown to Burke by the courts has been \u201cabused\u201d, he said. Unless Burke purged his contempt, there was \u201cno option but to leave him in jail\u201d.<\/p>\n

Solicitor Simon McGarr, whose firm McGarr Solicitors represented one of the Rossport Five, said the \u201cquandary\u201d judges find themselves in \u201cis the clash between rules based on the presumption of rational actioning by an individual and a person who does not place rationality at the centre of their world view\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn the circumstances, the court has no choice but to continue for its part to behave rationally,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n

\u201cAt some point, we are going to have to recognise that the presumption of rationality cannot be taken for granted when it comes to people appearing before the courts.\u201d<\/p>\n

McGarr said Burke\u2019s case was \u201cbased on misplaced religious convictions\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut in the future we may also find people who have been misled by conspiracy theories, misinformation, disinformation or AI [artificial intelligence] psychosis into acting contrary to any rational behaviour and against their own interests as well as those of society,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

The case of Burke continues to highlight the limitations of the law when it comes to dealing with a litigant intent on pursuing their own cause irrespective of court orders and penalties. <\/p>\n

That has led to mounting concern in legal circles that Burke\u2019s stance might encourage others despite prison and\/or fines having proved a strong disincentive in most cases.<\/p>\n

To date, the court has been unable to devise a solution to the Burke contempt other than the obvious solution of him purging it. <\/p>\n

Burke, as Mr Justice Cregan said this week, \u201chas the keys to his own prison\u201d.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"To free or not to free Enoch Burke? That is the question haunting the courts as the teacher…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":299532,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[9,10,18,8662,13,14,6,10476,19,17,11,12,15,16,5,7,8],"class_list":{"0":"post-299531","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-headlines","8":"tag-breaking-news","9":"tag-breakingnews","10":"tag-eire","11":"tag-enoch-burke","12":"tag-featured-news","13":"tag-featurednews","14":"tag-headlines","15":"tag-high-court","16":"tag-ie","17":"tag-ireland","18":"tag-latest-news","19":"tag-latestnews","20":"tag-main-news","21":"tag-mainnews","22":"tag-news","23":"tag-top-stories","24":"tag-topstories"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@ie\/115944727673750784","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/299531","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=299531"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/299531\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/299532"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=299531"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=299531"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=299531"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}