A receiver appointed over teacher Enoch Burke’s salary may be allowed to seize his other assets as the funds in his bank account are insufficient to meet the fines imposed on him for breaching court orders, the High Court heard.
Mr Burke has continued to turn up at Wilson’s Hospital School in Co Westmeath since Christmas following his release after 512 days in prison for defying court orders not to do so.
He claims he has been jailed and his salary seized because, in opposing transgenderism in accordance with his Christian beliefs, he has refused to call a 15-year-old student by the “they” pronoun and a new name.
Each of his attendances at the school since January 2023 had attracted a High Court imposed daily fine of €700. The daily fine was recently increased to €1,400.
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As an alternative to sending him back to prison, Mr Justice David Nolan ordered last week that steps be taken to ensure he pays the fines and appointed a receiver over his salary and freezing orders on his bank account. He made the move in view of the fact that Mr Burke continues to be paid his teacher’s salary as an appeal over his dismissal has yet to be completed.
On Tuesday, instead of going to the school, Mr Burke attended court where the judge said he was giving him an opportunity to argue why an order allowing for the fines to continue to be taken from his bank account should not be made permanent.
The hearing started out with submissions from Brian Kennedy SC, for the Attorney General, who said his client had considered, in conjunction with the receiver, extending the remit of the receiver to act on Mr Burke’s other assets.
This was because, counsel said, his bank account appeared to have €40,000 in it which was insufficient to meet the €79,100 in fines that had already built up and there could be future fines for Mr Burke continuing to breach the court order.
In reply, Mr Burke stated the underlying issue in this case – his constitutional right to freedom of religion and expression in relation to his Christian views on transgenderism – had never been addressed.
The judge reminded him the only issue he was dealing with was the application to make the order on his salary permanent.
When Mr Burke complained that Mr Kennedy had got 20 minutes to put his submission, and he was not getting even five minutes to make his, the judge said he would give him five minutes.
Mr Burke said, among other things, that the Attorney General had admitted what was being done with his salary had never happened before. At one point, as the judge reminded him to stick to the matter before the court, he told the judge to “grow up a little please”.
He also told the judge, who had previously quoted scripture in relation to the man who failed to make use of his talents, that the Bible also stated there was only the male and female sex.
Mr Burke also told Mr Justice Nolan that he, under the preamble to the Constitution, was “accountable to God who you will stand before one day and give an account”.
He said the judge was also accountable to the people and to uphold their rights.
After listening to him for more than five minutes, the judge told him his time was up and he was once again asking why he should not make the order permanent.
Mr Burke continued speaking as the judge then made the order permanent and adjourned the case for two weeks to allow the Attorney General to come back with an application to extend the remit of the receiver.
The judge then got up and left the courtroom as Mr Burke continued to speak and an unidentified man at the back of the courtroom called out a number of times “judge” as he held up a piece of paper.
Mr Burke was accompanied by his mother Martina and siblings Ammi and Isaac.
