Enoch Burke still owes a huge amount of money in fines for defying court orders to refrain from trespassing at a school in Co Westmeath.

Judge Brian Cregan said in the High Court in Dublin that Burke had ‘wasted 700 days of his life in prison’ and his reputation as a teacher had been ‘damaged’ for refusing to obey court orders.

The court heard that the dismissed teacher had owed a total of €273,200, but had paid back €64,931.83, partly through his salary from the Department of Education being redirected.

This means that the Mayo native still owes another €208,268.17 in fines.

Burke appeared before the judge via video link and was seen talking animatedly after the court placed his video feed on mute.

Justice Cregan said: ‘All of this happened because of a senseless and misguided campaign to breach a court order.

‘None of this would have happened if Mr Burke had attended the school every day (as he said he had to do), but remained outside the school property and obeyed court orders. However, as Mr Burke has discovered, the rule of law applies to everybody, including Mr Burke.’

The former history and German teacher was dismissed from Wilson’s Hospital School in May after a lengthy dispute with the Westmeath school.

He was released from prison at the start of this month, after being locked up on several occasions after repeatedly returning to the school in defiance of injunctions banning him from entering the grounds.

In his previous ruling, Justice Cregan made it clear that releasing Burke should not have been viewed as approval of his actions.

He delivered a scathing assessment of the former teacher’s conduct, describing him as an unwelcome presence at the school and accusing him of repeatedly disrupting daily life for staff and pupils.

Burke was originally suspended before later being dismissed following an incident involving then-principal Niamh McShane during a school event in 2022.

His legal battle has since become one of the longest-running and most high-profile courtroom sagas in Ireland.

Despite being out of jail again, the legal restrictions preventing Burke from entering the school grounds remain in force.