It is the first week of term and Enoch Burke has returned to his former school, despite being officially dismissed, and previously been handed lengthy prison terms for contempt of court.
It was reported in the Irish Independent that Mr Burke was brought to the school by a relative, and walked from the road up the avenue to the school building before entering it. Wilson's Hospital school, had opened for two hours on Thursday afternoon for the induction of new students.
Just before 11am that morning, Gardaí arrived at the school, stayed for less than half an hour before leaving.
In August 2022, Enoch Burke was suspended, having publicly clashed with management over a direction that a transgender child can be called by a new name and they/them pronouns. The following January, he was sacked from his job following several incidents, including interrupting a church service and a row with the then principal.
This dismissal was officially confirmed in May after a DAP found that he had failed to make out grounds for the review of the school's disciplinary action made against him.
Mr Burke who hails from a well known fundamentalist Christian family from Castlebar, Co Mayo, had initiated a legal challenge against an appeals board decision, which ultimately allowed for his dismissal from the school.
The High Court filings came just a month after Mr Burke was released from prison for continuing to show up outside the school, in defiance of orders by the court. He was released in June, despite refusing to purge his contempt.
Mr Burke wrote to the board of management after his sacking was made official, stating that he did not accept his dismissal as lawful, and that it was not possible for him to accept the DAP's opinion. He also complained that a solicitor and barrister should not have been allowed to represent the school at a DAP hearing in April.
Following the hearing, Mr Burke alleged that the chairwoman, Ms Callanan had a conflict of interest, due to the fact that she also chaired the disciplinary panel for the Church of Ireland, with Wilson's Hospital School being a Church of Ireland school, something which he also claimed was not mentioned at the hearing.
He also pointed to Ms Callanan's husband and barrister Lyndon McCann, who holds a number of senior positions in the Church of Ireland.
This marks the third time that Mr Burke has taken legal proceedings against the DAP, with the previous two meetings seeing a member of the first panel replaced and two members of the second panel resigning.
