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Enoch Burke Considering Legal Challenge Against Disciplinary Appeal Panel

Tuesday, 6 January 2026 11:23

Mr Burke will be brought to the High Court today to possibly lodge an action against the panel.

Potential resolution to the long running Enoch Burke saga could be significantly delayed.

The former schoolteacher is considering taking a legal challenge against the Disciplinary Appeals Panel that will consider whether his sacking from Wilson's Hospital School in Westmeath was correct.

The Irish Independent is reporting Justice David Nolan has ordered Mr Burke to be brought from Mountjoy Prison to the High Court today so he may, if he wishes to do so, initiate an action against the panel.

The history and German teacher was suspended from the school in August 2022 after a public dispute with the school's management over a request to refer to a transgender student by their chosen pronouns.

Mr Burke has spent over 500 days in prison, and been fined €225,000, for contempt of court orders requiring him to stay away from the school.

The Disciplinary Appeals Panel met last month to consider the case and was due to give its decision by the end of this week.

However the decision has been deferred following complaints from the Burke family of the fairness of the procedures involved.

A previous panel hearing was cancelled after Mr Burke successfully argued against the inclusion of ASTI General Secretary Kieran Cristie because of comments made by the teacher's union on the issue of transgenderism.

A legal challenge is expected to prolong the dispute significantly.

The panel's recommendation will eventually be considered by Wilson's Hospital School's board of management.

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