Updated: 5.15pm
The President of the Court of Appeal has warned Enoch Burke that his appeal against an injunction preventing him from attending at Wilson's Hospital School may not be entertained if he remains in contempt of that order.
Mr Justice George Birmingham's statement was made hours after Mr Burke again had to be physically removed from a courtroom in the Four Courts by gardaí for interrupting proceedings before another judge.
Mr Justice Birmingham's comments were made days before Mr Burke's appeal against various orders and a decision made by the High Court last September, including the injunction preventing him from attending at the Co Westmeath school, is due to commence.
The appeal, which is due to proceed on Thursday, forms part of Mr Burke's ongoing legal dispute with the Westmeath school which suspended and then dismissed him from his role as a History and German teacher.
Mr Burke claims he has been wrongfully dismissed and suspended from his role. He claims the school has breached his rights after sanctioning him over his refusal to comply with a direction from the school to refer to a student, who wishes to transition, by a different pronoun.
'Imbalanced situation'
In advance of his appeal, Mr Burke and lawyers for the school were directed to appear before the appeal court, comprised of President of the Court George Birmingham, Mr Justice John Edwards and Ms Justice Marie Whelan.
Mr Justice Birmingham said he wished to make a number of points to the parties about the appeal in advance of Thursday's hearing.
He said the hearing of the appeal should be concluded in one day, otherwise it could take some time before the same panel of judges could be reconvened to hear the balance of the matter.
The judge asked the parties to reach an agreement on how the time should be allocated, and added that the court may not entertain the appeal.
This, Mr Justice Birmingham said, was because Mr Burke remains in contempt of last September’s court order directing him to stay away from the school.
Mr Justice Birmingham said Mr Burke's ongoing contempt, as well as his possible contempt after the hearing of the appeal before a judgment is delivered, was something the Court of Appeal would have to take into account.
The Judge said a scenario where somebody was appealing a court order, who themselves had not obeyed those orders, would be a very "imbalanced situation". It was one which the court "could not countenance," he added.
Mr Burke spent 108 days in Mountjoy Prison after he refused to purge his contempt and agree to stay away from the school. He was released without purging his contempt before Christmas.
However, he returned to the school premises in early January, resulting in the High Court imposing a €700 daily fine for each day he remains in contempt.
Concluding his remarks, Mr Justice Birmingham said the Court of Appeal did not want to hear from the parties on the issues raised by it at this point in time.
The judge asked that the sides simply consider and reflect on the court's comments in advance of Thursday's hearing.
Neither lawyers for the school nor Mr Burke, who was accompanied by his parents and two of his siblings, made any comment during the brief hearing before the appeal court.
High Court removal
The Court of Appeal hearing came just hours after Mr Burke was physically removed from the High Court by gardaí for a second time after trying to raise a matter with a judge.
Mr Justice Brian O'Moore directed gardaí to physically remove Mr Burke, who was accompanied in Court 3 in the Four Courts by his parents, Martina and Seán, and his sister Ammi, after the teacher disrupted Monday's call over of the chancery list.
Gardaí were called on to take action after the judge refused to allow Mr Burke to raise an issue in part of his ongoing legal battle with Wilson's Hospital School, which suspended and dismissed him from his job.
It was the second time in as many sittings of the court that the judge has asked the gardaí to intervene.
On Friday, Mr Burke and his sister were removed by gardaí, also for interrupting that sitting of the court.
On Monday morning, Mr Burke returned to the courtroom and sought to raise his concerns over the school's application to correct certain statements made in a document it is relying on as part of its ongoing legal action against him.
He said he was seeking clarification on directions emailed to him by the judge on Friday afternoon, after he and his sister had been removed from the courtroom regarding the school's application to file corrective affidavits due to errors in statements sworn in the proceedings on the school's behalf.
In reply, the judge said Mr Burke's case was not listed before the court, and said that the Co Mayo teacher had neither informed the court registrar nor had obtained the proper court document that would allow him to raise the matter.
Heated exchange
Mr Burke insisted on being heard, resulting in an exchange between the judge and the Burke family that became heated.
Mr Burke then refused to comply with the judge's direction to not talk over him, and when the judge made it clear that the matter was not being heard, the Burkes were highly critical of the court.
Mr Burke was warned several times by the judge that if he did not cease talking, he would be removed from the courtroom.
"You are not in charge of the list, " the judge told Mr Burke. Mr Burke persisted, and continued to speak over the judge.
Eventually three members of An Garda Síochána physically removed Mr Burke from the courtroom.
Ammi Burke continued to loudly berate the judge, accusing him of treating the school "very differently" to her brother.
The judge, noting that she is a qualified lawyer, reminded her that she had "no right of audience".
Mr Burke's mother Martina Burke was also highly critical of Mr Justice O'Moore and the gardaí.
"God knows about your wickedness," she said, adding that the court was "corrupt".
The gardaí, she said, had no right to remove her son from the courtroom.
After Enoch was removed, the other family members left the court of their own accord.
Regrettable experience
Mr Justice O'Moore then resumed the busy call over of the list, and apologised to all other parties present in the courtroom for the disruption caused to the administration of justice. It was "intolerable" that people should have to go through that regrettable experience, he added.
Mr Burke and the school have been engaged in a court battle after he claims he was wrongfully suspended, before being dismissed from his job, and his constitutional rights breached over his objections to referring to a student at the school who wishes to transition as 'they' rather than 'he'.
The school suspended and then, following a disciplinary process, purportedly dismissed the teacher due to the German and history teacher's alleged misconduct.
Arising out of his refusal to comply with a High Court order granted last September, Mr Burke was jailed for 108 days for contempt.
However, he has continued to attend at the school's campus, resulting in Mr Justice O'Moore imposing a €700 a day fine on him.
Mr Burke's appeal against various High Court decisions made against him is due to be heard by the Court of Appeal later this month.
In the most recent application before the court, lawyers for the school's board of management said it wants to correct issues including statements that a meeting last year at the school.
Mr Burke has been informed of the school's application to correct the inaccuracies before the matter returns before the court.
