Enoch Burke was transferred to Castlerea jail after prison authorities decided housing him within Mountjoy’s general inmate population would pose a risk to his safety, the High Court has heard.

Lawyers for the prisons’ governors said the transfer occurred in circumstances where, in light of his conduct during an escort to a recent court hearing, Burke was no longer deemed eligible for “enhanced” privileges under the Irish Prison Service’s (IPS) “incentivised regimes” policy. This policy incentivises good behaviour among prisoners.

Previously, as a prisoner with “enhanced” status, the teacher had been housed in a single cell at Mountjoy’s West section, separate from the prison’s general population.

Prison authorities’ stripping of Burke’s “enhanced” status necessitated him being housed elsewhere, the court heard on Thursday.

Burke is in jail for breaching a court order banning him from Wilson’s Hospital School, Co Westmeath, where he previously taught German and history.

He has spent more than 600 days in prison in separate spells for his contempt of the court order. Burke’s imprisonment was most recently ordered in January.

On March 1st, Burke was transferred by the IPS from Mountjoy Prison in Dublin – where he had been detained during his various periods of incarceration – to Castlerea Prison, Co Roscommon.

Burke is challenging this transfer. He contends that the transfer had “no legal basis”, arguing that the court had ordered his detention be at Mountjoy.

Lawyers for the prisons’ governors maintain they had a legal right to transfer Burke under the Criminal Justice (Administration) Act 1914.

At Thursday’s hearing, David Perry, for the governors of Mountjoy and Castlerea, opened to the court a sworn statement of Don Cullinton, director of operations at the Irish Prison Service.

In the statement, Cullinton outlined how Burke’s behaviour during an escort to court failed to meet the standard of behaviour required for an “enhanced” privileges status. This left Burke ineligible for housing in Mountjoy’s West section.

Housing Burke in Mountjoy’s general population would pose a risk to his safety, Cullinton said. To ensure Burke’s safety, he required a single occupancy cell, but providing this was not possible due overcrowding there, Cullinton said.

In those circumstances, Burke was transferred to Castlerea Prison, where it was possible to place the teacher in a single cell.

Perry said the relevant legislation, in its “ordinary and natural” meaning, defines a prisoner as a person held in a prison. He submitted that all prisoners – including those who are detained for contempt of civil orders – are subject to powers that allow for the transfer of inmates between prisons.

Burke, appearing in court via video-link, said the 1914 Act dealt with criminal matters and should not apply to his case. He said the prisoner governors’ reliance on the act was “unfounded and misconceived”.

Responding to Cullinton’s sworn statement, Burke said he had always conducted himself well in prison. “I challenge any averment to the contrary,” he said.

Burke said the removal of his enhanced status was a punishment for “being vocal in court”.

Following the parties’ submissions, Judge Brian Cregan asked Burke if he was willing to purge his contempt and to give an undertaking not to trespass at the Wilson’s Hospital School.

Burke declined. He said he should not be in prison and he repeated his claim that the reason for his imprisonment was his refusal to address a pupil by “they” and “them” pronouns. “I have no intention of compromising my Christian belief,” Burke said.

But the judge said: “From my perspective it is a tragedy that you are wasting your life like this.” He said had no interest in asking Burke to change his religious beliefs and said Burke was in prison for his breach of a court order.

The judge reserved his judgment on the prison transfer matter to next week.

Burke was banned from the school when the High Court ruled in May 2023 that Wilson’s Hospital School had validly suspended Burke from his teaching position. Judge Alexander Owens ordered that Burke be restrained from attending at the school premises.

The school suspended – and later dismissed – Burke over his conduct towards the then-principal Niamh McShane at a school religious event in June 2022.

The confrontation arose in circumstances where McShane had earlier requested teachers to address a student by a new name, and with the pronouns “they” and “them”. Burke, an evangelical Christian, has maintained that this request went against his religious beliefs.

He has repeatedly claimed he has been jailed over his religious beliefs and views on transgender issues, a claim rejected by several High Court judges.