THE HIGH COURT has ordered that school teacher Enoch Burke be released from prison, where he has been held since 2 September for contempt of court. 

Judge David Nolan exercised his discretion today by freeing Burke, citing the cost of keeping him in prison while the state is also paying his teacher’s salary. 

The cost of keeping Burke in Mountjoy Prison is €84,067 annually, or €1,600 a week, the judge said.

Judge Nolan said that the state’s scarce resources should be used to jail people who should be imprisoned and that Burke was in prison because he chose to be. 

Burke is on paid administrative leave from Wilson’s Hospital School in Westmeath. He has on a number of occasions been arrested for trespassing on the school premises in violation of a court order. 

The judge also said today that it appears Burke is exploiting his imprisonment and is likely doing so while under the influence of others.

Judge Nolan noted that the matter has been before the courts on nearly more occasions than any other case involving a personal litigant.

There have been 41 court orders made by the High Court alone, including orders for Burke to pay fines which now amount to €193,000 and have not been paid. 

Judge Nolan described Burke’s manner while refusing to obey court orders as “abusive”, which he said was a very grave matter. 

Burke has refused to purge his contempt, which would have seen him released from prison any time before now.

Burke has maintained that he has been imprisoned because of his religious beliefs about transgender people but Judge Nolan said he is profoundly incorrect in that belief. 

Judge Nolan described Burke’s arguments that the state and the school where he worked are trying to abolish religious liberty or force him to act in a manner inconsistent with his religious beliefs as “entirely misguided, and at times, ridiculous”.

The judge stressed that this was not the end of the matter and said that the previous €700 daily fine for contempt of court was not draconian enough.

He increased the fine to €1,400 and urged Burke to give up his repeated contempt of court.