Overview
- The High Court ordered Enoch Burke’s release on Wednesday after he had spent more than 700 days in custody over repeated breaches of orders barring him from Wilson’s Hospital School.
- Judge Brian Cregan said a May decision rejecting Burke’s appeal against his dismissal and the Department of Education’s cessation of his salary amounted to a material change that meant internal remedies were exhausted.
- The court left the permanent injunction banning Burke from school grounds in place and said he remains in contempt until he purges that contempt.
- The judge will rule later this month on the calculation of fines accrued during the dispute, with reporting suggesting a rough total above €268,000, and the school can still seek recommittal or criminal prosecution if Burke returns.
- Cregan criticised Burke as an 'unwelcome intruder' intent on disrupting pupils but also said Burke may express his religious views outside the school gates, highlighting the clash between conscience claims and legal limits on conduct that disrupts education.