THE High Court has appointed a receiver to collect unpaid fines worth almost €80,000 to date from the salary of Enoch Burke.
Wilson’s Hospital School in Westmeath sacked the teacher over his conduct when he protested about what he said was a requirement to address a transgender pupil with the they/them pronoun rather than he/she.
Mr Burke, who says he is standing up for his Christian beliefs, claims his constitutional right to religious freedom has been breached.
He has incurred €79,100 in fines for disobeying High Court orders to stay away from the school.
The outcome of an appeal related to his dismissal is awaited and in the meantime he continues to be paid his monthly salary on an administrative leave basis by the Department of Education.
He also continues to turn up at the school despite court orders that he stay away and despite his release from his 512th day in prison before Christmas without having purged his contempt.
When he returned to the school premises after the Christmas break, the school did not apply to have him jailed again but Mr Justice David Nolan ruled there should be some way of collecting the daily €700 fine for continuing contempt which had already been imposed on him. The judge also said he would increase that fine to €1,400 a day.
The Attorney General (AG) and Department of Education then sent lawyers to court to address the judge’s request for some way of enforcing the fines.
Brian Kennedy SC, for the AG, presented the case for the appointment of a receiver by way of equitable execution over Mr Burke’s salary.
Mr Kennedy also made an ex parte – where only one side is represented – application seeking a conditional garnishee order in relation to money in his bank account to pay the fines already imposed.
Mr Burke did not attend court but counsel said he had been informed of the proceedings by email and registered post.
Mr Burke’s father Sean, mother Martina, sister Ammi and brother Isaac were in court.
While there had previously been repeated interruptions from family members at previous sittings, only Isaac tried to interrupt and that was when the judge began making his orders.
The judge said the bank should be informed of the court order immediately so that there is no attempt “to clear out the bank account”.
He also granted costs to the AG, the Department of Education and the school’s lawyers.
