LAST UPDATE | 29 mins ago

ENOCH BURKE’S ATTEMPT to stop an appeals board from holding any further hearings into his sacking has been struck out by the High Court.

Judge Brian Cregan ruled that the case was “moot” after hearing that a new three-member Disciplinary Appeals Panel (DAP) will be appointed to decide whether Burke was unfairly dismissed by Wilson’s Hospital School.

It followed tumultuous scenes in court where proceedings had to be stopped twice when members of the Burke family interrupted and heckled the judge.

There were also several angry exchanges between Burke and Judge Cregan, who accused the teacher of “disgraceful hypocrisy” and of attempting to “bulldoze your way through every judge in the country”.

Enoch Burke initially appeared in court in person, but later appeared remotely from Mountjoy Prison, where he is currently imprisoned for contempt of court, after he and his family members interrupted proceedings.

The latest case involved an attempt by Burke to obtain an injunction to stop the DAP from issuing its findings about whether he was fairly or unfairly dismissed.

He had taken issue with the panel’s membership, most notably that of Association of Secondary Teachers in Ireland (ASTI) representative Geraldine O’Brien, and with the way the DAP conducted a hearing into his case when it met in December.

Burke appeared in person this morning with his brother Isaac, his sister Ammi and his mother Martina.

Judge Brian Cregan warned at the outset of the hearing that proceedings would be adjourned and that Burke would be returned to Mountjoy Prison if he strayed beyond what were regarded as “acceptable submissions” or if his family interrupted.

After the school’s board of management sought to be joined as a notice party in a case, Burke objected by accusing solicitors for the board of “lying and prevarication” in separate legal cases they have been involved in with him.

He also described the board as a “foreign presence in the court” and said they had not been involved in other cases he had brought against the DAP.

He began interrupting and claimed that a letter being read by counsel for the school’s board of management Rosemary Mallon was not a valid legal submission.

Mallon had said that it was in the interests of Burke and the DAP to hold a new hearing of the panel as soon as possible, and that the board would be affected by the outcome of that hearing.

The letter explained that a representative from a teachers’ union was required to appear on a DAP; the board chose someone from the ASTI because Burke is not part of a union, and the union represents the majority of teachers at the school.

However, Mallon said the board of management was open to nominating someone to the panel from the Teachers Union of Ireland, and could also seek the nomination of an independent member from the Law Society, the Bar Society or the Irish Congress of Trade Unions.

At this point, Burke, his mother Martina and his sister Ammi began shouting at Judge Cregan and Mallon, and were physically removed from the courtroom by gardaí.

Burke described their removal from court as “absolutely disgraceful” and said he had “an entitlement to justice” while being handcuffed and removed from the courtroom.

The court rose for 15 minutes, and Judge Cregan confirmed that the proceedings would resume later when Burke would appear remotely from Mountjoy Prison.

‘Absolutely disgraceful’

When the case resumed at 12pm, Cregan said Burke’s earlier behaviour was “absolutely disgraceful”, “completely unacceptable in a court of law”, and “manifestly an abuse of process”.

Cregan then agreed that the board of management could join proceedings, before moving on to submissions on whether Burke’s case was now “moot”.

Counsel for the DAP Pádraic Lyons argued that no injunction was required because two members of the panel, Jack Cleary and Seán Ó Longáin.

He also said Geraldine O’Brien “accepts the position that she can no longer have any involvement in this panel or the nomination of any future panel”.

Asked to make his submissions on this point, Burke – who now appeared remotely -  claimed the court had engaged in an “abuse of power” by hearing the board of Wilson’s Hospital School’s attempt to join the proceedings first.

Judge Cregan then criticised Burke for continuing to protest, saying: “All you do is kick up, create a storm and delay the process. It’s indefensible and disgraceful and amounts to another contempt of court, Mr Burke.”

Burke then argued that as O’Brien had not officially resigned from the DAP, she was still a member and therefore his application for an injunction was valid.

He began outlining how a previous iteration of the panel worked when it convened in 2023, before being told by Judge Cregan to “get to the point”.

Burke said that he would make his point if the judge stopped interrupting him.

“That’s a bit rich coming from you so that you and your family interrupted these proceedings,” Judge Cregan said.

“Is it one rule for you and another for everyone else that you’re allowed to interrupt? That is disgraceful hypocrisy, Mr Burke.”

Second delay

Counsel Rosemary Mallon was then asked to make submissions on behalf of the school’s board of management, and began to explain that all three members of the DAP had effectively resigned when she was interrupted by Isaac Burke.

Judge Cregan then ordered Isaac Burke to leave the courtroom, which prompted a second delay in proceedings when he refused to do so.

As the judge left the courtroom, Enoch Burke spoke to say that his brother was needed in court to submit documents on his behalf.

Isaac Burke was then physically removed from the courtroom by multiple gardaí.

When the court resumed, Mallon continued to say that the board “simply wants to proceed to appoint a new panel” to allow the hearing to take place.

Burke continued to argue in submissions that it was “crystal clear” that O’Brien was refusing to resign and that her position hasn’t changed.

“I do think it’s disgraceful that Ms Mallon and the board are allowed to waltz in here as kingmakers and give the last word on whether my application is heard,” he told the court.

Judge Cregan then gave an ex tempore judgment, saying it was clear that a new three-person panel would be convened, which rendered Burke’s application moot.

Burke continued to protest when asked about the issue of costs, asking why O’Brien had not resigned from the panel, prompting another reprimand from Judge Cregan.

“Why do you never accept any of the rulings of the court, Mr Burke?” the judge said.

“This is just a persistent attempt to bulldoze your way through every judge in the country. It’s just ridiculous Mr Burke.

“I don’t know where you thought this would be an exercise in persuasive advocacy, but it doesn’t work, Mr Burke.”

The judge then said it is “imperative” that three new members of the DAP are appointed and meet within “two or three weeks” to decide on Burke’s case.

He also called it “ludicrous” that previous iterations of the DAP have only been able to meet on Saturdays, saying they should be able to do so on weekdays as well.

“Mr Burke is languishing in jail on a contempt of court issue while parties are appointed who can only sit on a Saturday; that’s completely undesirable,” Judge Cregan said.