Enoch Burke’s dismissal from Wilson’s Hospital School has been confirmed after a Disciplinary Appeals Panel said his challenge to his dismissal failed, the High Court has heard.Lawyers for the Co Westmeath school told Judge Brian Cregan on Thursday that the panel, convened to hear Burke’s appeal against his dismissal, this week said the teacher’s grounds for review of his dismissal were “not made out”.The appeals panel said its opinion was a product of Burke’s unwillingness to conduct himself in an orderly manner, his failure to comply with the panel’s direction, and unwillingness to participate in the appeals process unless on his terms, the court heard. An attempted oral hearing of Burke’s challenge in April was persistently disrupted by Burke and his family members, leading the panel to decide it was “impossible” to conduct a fair hearing.Following the issuing of the appeals panel’s opinion, Wilson’s Hospital School wrote to Burke informing him of his dismissal with immediate effect, the school’s barrister, Rosemary Mallon, told the judge.Burke, who appeared at Thursday’s hearing via video-link, said he did not accept the panel’s opinion. He said he was still an employee of the school. Two of Burke’s siblings, Jemima and Simeon, were escorted from the hearing after disrupting proceedings, with the latter forcibly removed from the courtroom by a garda. Separately, in a judgment on Thursday, the Court of Appeal dismissed Burke’s bid to bring a late challenge to a High Court judgment that found he was validly suspended from his job at the Co Westmeath school. The school suspended and later dismissed Burke over his conduct towards then-principal Niamh McShane at a school religious event in June 2022. The confrontation arose in circumstances where McShane had earlier directed teachers to address a student by a new name and with the pronouns “they” and “them”. Burke, an evangelical Christian, has maintained this request went against his religious beliefs.[ Garda taped conversations with wife, put tracker on her phone and told her to stay at homeOpens in new window ]Burke has repeatedly breached a court order to stay away from the school. He is now incarcerated over this contempt of court, and has spent close to 700 days over separate spells in jail.At Thursday’s hearing, Mallon told the judge the school’s board of management felt it was important to bring the appeals panel’s opinion to the court’s attention. She said the next steps were “in the court’s hands”.“[Burke] is now dismissed ... He has no right, even on his own logic – which is disputed by the school – to attend at Wilson’s,” Mallon submitted.Burke made various submissions regarding the appeals process. He raised what he described as a conflict of interest arising from participation of appeals panel chair Claire Callanan in the process. He claimed the conflict arose from Callanan’s purported links to the Church of Ireland, including her sitting on a church disciplinary panel. He submitted that Callanan’s husband was a legal adviser to the Church of Ireland and held other senior roles in the church.[ Murder accused faces €860,000 Cab bill for unpaid taxes, court toldOpens in new window ]Noting Wilson’s Hospital School’s Church of Ireland ethos, and submitting the church was “intrinsically connected” to the school, he claimed Callanan could not be an objective and impartial decision-maker in the appeal.When these issues were raised by Burke in correspondence, the panel said it did not believe a conflict of interest arose, the court heard.Cregan said it was a matter for Burke what he wished to do following the conclusion of the appeals panel process, noting he has an entitlement to challenge the panel’s opinion. The judge said he was not expressing a view on issues raised in Burke’s submissions, including the conflict of interest allegation. Noting Burke’s refusal to give an undertaking not to attend at the school, the judge said the teacher remained in contempt of court and should remain in prison.