Former school teacher, Enoch Burke has returned to the school he was sacked from, despite previously being handed lengthy prison terms for contempt of court.
On Thursday morning, 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, according to the Irish Independent.
Enoch Burke was initially suspended by the school in August 2022, having publicly clashed with management over a direction that a transgender child can be called by a new name and they/them pronouns.
Overall, Mr Burke has spent 726 days in prison, across five different period, for continuing to turn up outside the school.
In January 2023, he was dismissed from his job amid several incidents, including the interruption of a church service and a row with the then principal.
This dismissal was officially confirmed in May after a DAP found that he had not made 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 filings from the High Court proceedings came a month after Mr Burke's release from prison for continuing to show up outside the school, in defiance of orders by the court.
He had been released at the end of the previous school term, despite refusing to purge his contempt.
Mr Burke had also written 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 there was a conflict of interest at play when it came to the disciplinary panel hearing.
He mentioned that chairwoman, Ms Callanan had 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 referred to Ms Callanan's husband and barrister Lyndon McCann, who holds a number of senior positions in the Church of Ireland.
This is the third time that Mr Burke has taken legal proceedings against the DAP.
Prior to this, the previous two meetings saw a member of the first panel replaced and two members of the second panel resigning.
