A senior judge has warned dismissed schoolteacher Enoch Burke that his chances of succeeding in an appeal may be damaged by his continued breach of High Court orders.
he warning was issued today by Mr Justice George Birmingham, President of the Court of Appeal, where Mr Burke will this Thursday seek to overturn various orders obtained against him by his former employers Wilson’s Hospital School.
It came just hours after Mr Burke was physically removed from another courtroom by gardaí after interrupting the list of a different judge, Mr Justice Brian O’Moore of the High Court.
At a brief preliminary hearing ahead of the appeal, Mr Justice George Birmingham said it appeared Mr Burke was currently in contempt of court.
The teacher has been continuing to show up each day at the school in Multyfarnham, Co Westmeath despite orders restraining him from doing so and a €700-a-day fine imposed by the High Court.
“At this stage, we simply want to flag the fact that it shouldn’t be assumed that an appeal will be entertained by this court from someone who continues to be in contempt of court,” said Mr Justice Birmingham.
The judge said the court would have “some difficulty” with an “unbalanced situation” where a party who won’t obey court orders is seeking orders which the other side is required to obey.
The remarks will pile further pressure on Mr Burke to end his daily visits to the school, where he has been refused admittance and left standing outside.
Mr Burke was suspended last August following incidents in which he clashed with management over a request that a transgender child be called by a new name and their preferred pronouns.
The teacher of history and German, who comes from a well-known family of evangelical Christians, objected on religious grounds, setting off a chain of events which resulted in his incarceration for 108 days for contempt of court.
Mr Burke is not appealing the order which resulted in his imprisonment.
Instead he is asking the Court of Appeal to set aside orders including a temporary injunction restraining him from attending for work, and a subsequent High Court decision to keep the injunction in place pending a final hearing of the matter.
He is also appealing against the High Court’s dismissal of an application brought by him aimed at setting aside his suspension.
Should he be successful, he believes the orders he is in contempt of would fall away.
Earlier, Mr Burke was physically removed from the High Court by gardaí for the second straight sitting in a row on the direction of Mr Justice O’Moore after he interrupted the court list and repeatedly spoke over the judge. He was also ejected last Friday.
There were heated scenes as three gardaí were required to forcibly remove him from the court amid loud shouting from members of his family.
As he was being removed, his mother Martina accused the judge of trying to delay her son’s appeal.
“It is absolutely corrupt. You are covering up your tracks and you are trying to push on the appeal. God knows about your wickedness,” she shouted.
Mr Justice O’Moore also directed that Mr Burke’s sister Ammi, a solicitor, be removed by gardaí. However, she left of her own volition.
Mr Burke was also accompanied in court by his father Sean.
The incident is the latest in a series of flashpoints between members of the Burke family and the judiciary.
The latest incident occurred after he attended court this morning seeking clarification on court directions issued to him and the school last Friday.
Standing in the middle of a packed courtroom, he interrupted the list asking if he could mention the case.
The judge said he would not hear Mr Burke as the teacher had not filed the necessary paperwork or informed the court registrar of his application.
Mr Burke said he had put the school on notice of his application and did not believe an ex parte docket was required as he simply wanted to ask a question about the directions.
The directions related to an application from the school to file affidavits correcting some factual errors made in previous affidavits. The inaccuracies relate to who precisely was at a meeting where the child made the request regarding their name.
Lawyers for the school say they do not believe the inaccuracies had any bearing on orders given by the court restraining Mr Burke from attending at the school.
On Friday, Mr Justice O’Moore issued directions stating the affidavits were not relied on in hearings before him, but were in hearings before Ms Justice Siobhan Stack, Mr Justice Conor Dignam and Mr Justice Max Barrett. He said the correct course of action was that these errors be brought to the attention of the relevant judges.
Despite Mr Justice O’Moore making clear he would not hear from Mr Burke and attempting to move on to a matter on his list, the teacher continued to speak.
The judge said Mr Burke “cannot simply hijack the list”.
“You are not in charge of this list. As it happens, I am. If there is clarification sought, you can email my registrar,” the judge said.
Mr Burke responded that there was a hearing in the Court of Appeal and he wanted to know if it was the judge’s intention to delay his appeal.
He said the appeal related to injunctions against him and the affidavits were relevant to it.
“I cannot allow you to act in the way you are behaving,” the judge responded.
After Mr Burke spoke over a barrister who was attempting to address the court on another matter, the judge said: “Mr Burke, if you continue to talk and obstruct counsel from making his application, I am going to have you removed from court.”
After further interruptions, Mr Justice O’Moore asked gardaí to remove him.
As he was being taken out, Enoch Burke shouted: “Why am I being treated differently from the school? That is not justice Judge, to treat somebody differently from the school.”
Mr Burke’s sister Ammi then protested loudly, claiming lawyers for the school had been “listen to” two weeks ago without having to file an ex parte docket.
“It is not fair. You are treating the school differently to Mr Burke,” she shouted.
Mr Justice O’Moore responded: “Ms Burke, the school has never shown the level of disrespect that is being shown by you.”
He then directed she be removed by gardaí as well, but she walked out of court herself.
When the Burkes had left, the judge said he wished to apologise to lawyers and litigants who had been waiting for their cases to be called.
“No person should be subjected to that sort of interference with the administration of justice,” he said.
“It is absolutely intolerable that people are subject to that and I really do apologise.”
Last Friday, Mr Justice O’Moore accused Enoch and Ammi Burke of making “groundless complaints” and “abusive comments” following a stand-off in which they both refused to leave his courtroom.
Mr Justice O’Moore twice rose from the bench when the Burkes protested and refused to leave the court after the judge said he would not deal with an application the schoolteacher wanted to make.
Their protests led to the court’s list, which contained 46 cases, being suspended for two hours.
