School teacher Enoch Burke has been given permission by the High Court to notify the three-member Disciplinary Appeals Panel that he intends to seek a temporary injunction preventing them from issuing a recommendation in his appeal against his dismissal from Wilson’s Hospital School.
Burke’s application is scheduled to be heard on Thursday and, if successful, is likely to be followed by a request for a permanent High Court order restraining the panel from taking any further steps in relation to his appeal, reports Breaking News.
The legal action, for which Burke was released from prison on Tuesday morning to attend court, is being taken against panel members Sean O’Longain, Geraldine O’Brien and Jack Cleary.
The panel has arranged to meet this Saturday to further consider Burke’s appeal, which he is seeking to halt on the grounds, as he told Mr Justice Barry O’Donnell in court this morning, that the panel hearings to date have lacked “any sense of natural justice and fair procedures”, reports Breaking News.
Burke, assisted by his brother Isaac and sister Ammi, presented his submissions to Judge O’Donnell without incident, although a number of gardaí were present in the courtroom in case any difficulties arose.
Previously, the court heard that loud protests from members of the Burke family had resulted in them being removed from the courtroom by gardaí, reports Breaking News.
Burke was transported by prison van from Mountjoy Jail on Tuesday morning, where he is being held for contempt of court, and was later returned to custody.
Burke is seeking several declarations from the High Court, including that his appeal be sent back for a new hearing before a freshly constituted panel that does not include any of the three named respondents, reports Breaking News.
Burke told the court that the Disciplinary Appeals Board had been informed on Monday evening of his intention to apply to the court on Tuesday morning and had been served with documentation, but that he did not see any representative present in court.
Judge O’Donnell said he would allow short service of Mr Burke’s application for a temporary injunction on the defendants, which is to be heard on Thursday, and directed that Burke be produced in court by the prison authorities so he could continue his application before the court, reports Breaking News.
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