Enoch Burke has become one of the most talked-about figures in Ireland’s courts - a teacher turned serial litigant whose refusal to accept rulings has made headlines for years.

Suspended in 2022 after row about the school’s request to use a transgender student’s chosen pronouns, Burke’s battle with the school has spiralled into a long-running confrontation with the Irish legal system.

He’s been jailed for contempt of court, had his salary and bank accounts seized, and insists his fight is about freedom of religion and free expression.

With the cost of court fines stacking up and Mr Burke having spent over 500 days in prison, is there any end in sight?

Barrister and co-host of The First Court legal podcast Peter Leonard said “it doesn’t seem like [there’s] an obvious solution” to the issue.

“I think he crystallised the fines that he currently owes at €225,000, which is a huge amount of money for a young person,” he told the Newstalk Daily podcast.

“He talked himself, he’s saying, ‘I was hoping to buy a house and save for a deposit’; I mean it’s a very sad story really.

“But what [Judge Nolan] suggested then, which is slightly unusual for a judge, he talked about, is there a way of preventing [Mr Burke] getting access to the school.”

Enoch Burke leaving Wilson's Hospital School, 27/01/2023. Image: Sasko Lazarov / RollingNews.ie

According to Mr Leonard, Judge Nolan had put forward that the school could perhaps hire private security to keep Mr Burke off the premises.

However, the school’s legal representation pushed back against the idea, stating that the cost of such measures would be extortionate.

“I think a lot of it is the court really does not want to send him to jail, I mean, that’s not what the courts are about,” Mr Leonard said.

“Therefore, I think Judge Nolan is just saying, ‘Is there any other possibility? Is there any other way in managing this situation?’”

'We can't turn a blind eye'

Mr Leonard said that while he doesn’t see Mr Burke giving in any time soon, “there will have to be some give from him”.

“The system as it exists in Ireland, our Constitution, our democracy, it requires [compliance] to work,” he said.

“We can’t just turn a blind eye and say, ‘You know what? We’ve had enough of you, go on, do what you want to do’.

“They can’t let him do that, so it will require some movement from him.”

Main image: The High Court has ordered the release of Enoch Burke from Mountjoy Prison, where he has been held since 2 September for contempt of court. 10/02/2023 . Photograph: Leah Farrell / RollingNews.ie