Enoch Burke seeks to appeal against judgment which found suspension lawful

By Bairbre Holmes, Press Association

Enoch Burke has argued that he should be granted an appeal against a High Court decision that his suspension from a Co Westmeath school was lawful.

In May 2023, Justice Alexander Owens ruled it was lawful for Wilson’s Hospital School to suspend the history and German teacher in 2022.

Following the judgment, Burke had 28 days in which to appeal, but on Wednesday, he appeared in front of the three judges of the Court of Appeal to make his case for an extension of time.

The school and Burke have been in a long-running legal dispute stemming from incidents over a request from the former’s then-principal to address a student by a new name and the pronoun “they”.

Burke, an evangelical Christian, argued that his suspension was unlawful and went against his right to express his religious beliefs.

He has spent more than 650 days in jail for contempt of court after repeatedly trespassing at the school.

Addressing the judges on Wednesday, he outlined a number of reasons for seeking an appeal two-and-a-half years after the original judgment.

They included his involvement in a number of legal actions, in which he represented himself, his imprisonment and because he had “lost confidence in the Court of Appeal” following a previous decision.

The barrister representing the school’s board of management, Rosemary Mallon, described the case as “unusual and extraordinary” and said an extension of time to allow an appeal should not be granted.

She said the reasons Burke gave for the delay were “not legitimate or valid reasons” and said there was a “need for finality” in the matter.

President of the court Justice Caroline Costello said judgment on the matter was reserved, and when asked for a timeline on when a decision might be made, she replied: “We will do it when we can, everybody has different pressures with work.”