Enoch Burke may have contempt fines (he now owes €79k) deducted from his teaching salary

ENOCH BURKE MAY be forced to pay fines he owes for contempt of court from his Department of Education salary, following a ruling by the High Court today.

The option of freezing his assets was considered but, in the end, Justice David Nolan opted for the ‘garnishee order’, which allows for the collection of monies owed directly from a third party, like an employer or bank.

The High Court granted the Attorney General permission to apply for a garnishee order on Burke’s salary to cover fines imposed due to his ongoing violation of orders mandating him to stay away from Wilson’s Hospital School.

In a ruling issued this afternoon, Justice Nolan said that Burke owes just over €79,000 in fines for continuing to attend at the school in Westmeath where he previously worked, despite a court order directing him not to.

To date, Enoch Burke hasn’t paid for any of the significant fines. He remains on full pay, pending the outcome of an appeal against his dismissal.

The teacher has spent over 500 days in Mountjoy Prison for repeatedly violating a court order to stay away from Wilson’s Hospital School since August 2022. He has failed to purge his contempt or agree to obey the order.

He was released from prison in December, the third such time he has been released.

A High Court judge ruled in early 2023 that Enoch Burke should pay a fine of €700 a day for each day that he continued to attend at the school in breach of the court injunction.

Justice Nolan said today that Burke had continued to attend at the school since it reopened in January this year “in flagrant breach” of court orders.

The judge said Burke had not purged his contempt but had “doubled down on it” and he said he seemed to regard himself as a martyr.

He added that Burke had not paid any of the fines directed and was still in receipt of his salary, which is paid by the Department of Education.

As a result, Justice Nolan said he intended to double the €700-per-day fines to €1,400-per-day.

Nolan added that he wanted Burke to provide him with sworn evidence about his assets and income before the close of business next Friday.