Sunday Independent owner admits inaccuracies in article but says Enoch Burke 'damaged' his own reputation

Enoch Burke outside of court previously during a separate case.

ON THE SECOND day of Enoch Burke’s defamation action in the High Court, counsel for the publisher Mediahuis put it to him that a Sunday Independent  article could not have hurt his reputation as he had already extensively damaged it himself.

The October 2022 article had claimed that Burke was moved in Mountjoy after “annoying” other prisoners.

Ronan Lupton SC, acting for the defendants, put it to Burke that he has sought to make himself a “public figure” since 2010, and that in the wake of his employment issues with Wilson’s Hospital School, he has seriously injured his reputation by failing to comply with court orders to stay away from his former workplace.

Mr Burke has taken defamation action against Mediahuis over an article authored by journalist Ali Bracken which claimed that he had been moved to a new cell in Mountjoy for his safety as he had been “annoying” other prisoners, and that there was a possibility he would have otherwise suffered a “beating” from another inmate.

The article quotes from an unnamed source, who is not being identified in court proceedings.

Lupton pointed to Burke’s previous protesting outside of the Dáil, and through creating websites with the domains ‘davidnorrispresident’ and ‘katherinezappone2020.ie’, and paying for ads to promote the latter, saying he had sought to attract “attention” from the public in order to increase his profile, and promote his personal beliefs and views on election candidates.

Yesterday, in his opening statement and while giving evidence, Burke put forth that the Sunday Independent article about his interactions with other prisoners exposed him to online “ridicule” and “smacked of a hit piece”.

Today, in cross examination, Lupton put to Burke that he was already a public figure who attracted controversy prior to the publication of the article in October 2022 – by which time he had been imprisoned for failing to comply with court orders.

Burke denied repeated propositions that he is a “contemnor”, and that this is what has caused damage to his reputation. He also strenuously denied that he is “choosing” to remain in prison rather than purging his contempt before the High Court.

Burke has alleged that the court orders he failed to comply with were “unlawful”, a result of “spin” by one High Court judge, and that he could not leave prison, because he could not betray his religious beliefs.

Yesterday, Burke told the court that he was held in high esteem as a teacher in his locality.

Letter

Today, Mediahuis produced a letter from the student council of Wilson’s Hospital School from 2023 which was addressed to Burke and stated that his presence outside the gates of the school was causing students to be “late to class”, was attracting “large crowds” that created unsafe conditions, and caused difficulty for students who didn’t want their faces “on national media”.

“Your actions thrust the school into international controversy, yet you seek to blame the defendants for that,” Lupton put to Burke – who voiced his disagreement.

The letter also said that “many” LGBTQI+ students in the school felt that Burke’s presence there was a “daily” reminder of the prejudice that they faced, and that they feared that Burke might “say or do” something “harmful” to them “for publicity”, if he wasn’t supervised.

The student council letter said that Burke’s presence in the school meant that some students “couldn’t be themselves”.

Burke, in response to this questioning from Lupton, said that a small number of students in the school were in favour of “transgender ideology”.

Yesterday, Burke said that rather than having “annoyed” his fellow prisoners, he was praised by them, and given sweets, cakes, popcorn, chocolate digestives, and more out of “goodwill”.

Today, he said that the prisoners were “bemused” that someone who “shouldn’t be there” in the prison was amongst them.

He also claimed that the students in the Westmeath school abrought him cakes, brack, scones and more when he staged protests at the gates, and that some voiced their support.

He said that he was well thought of until the publication of the Sunday Independent report.

Mediahuis has admitted that there were inaccuracies in that article – one being that it stated that Burke was being held in the general population section of the prison and the other being that he was moved to a new cell because he was annoying other prisoners. The publisher has accepted he was moved for operational reasons.

The original article had claimed that Burke “was annoying the other prisoners on the landing, just being himself and expressing his views” – which Burke has wholly denied, and has claimed to be libel.

Today, Lupton asked Burke if he ever discussed his religious views with other prisoners. Burke said that he engaged in “normal” conversations with other Mountjoy inmates, and he answered questions about his case if it came up.

“If someone in prison thought you were annoying them, they are entitled to that opinion,” Lupton put to Burke, who maintained that he has had good relationships with other prisoners.

Yesterday, Burke said that on his first day in prison, someone told him that they had seen him on the TV.

Lupton put to him today that Burke’s public actions in relation to his employment issues, and his repeated turning up at Wilson’s Hospital School, had caused him to be a “person of notoriety even within the prison”.

Burke said that he became a public figure in August 2022, because he was a teacher who had “taken a stand” for his “rights”.

Lupton said that Burke was in contempt of court at the time that the Sunday Independent article was published, that it was his being in contempt that had damaged his name, and that therefore the article was “incapable” of injuring Burke’s reputation.

Burke said it was a “ludicrous proposition” that his reputation had already been tarnished.

Lupton also raised Burke’s behaviour in court over the last two years and how Justice Sanfrey, in separate proceedings. had to order that Burke be removed from court for repeatedly interrupting the judge, and “insulting” the court.

Burke said that how people act in court – a stressful environment – is not representative of how they act in day-to-day life, and how they treat their neighbours.

He also stressed that he was removed from court years after the publication of the article he is complaining about.

“You can’t control yourself Mr Burke, isn’t that right?,” Lupton asked, later adding that Burke’s conduct was “embarrassing”, which he denied.

Lupton informed the court that the Sunday Independent issued a correction and apology, and removed the online version of the article in question. Mediahuis denies that it has defamed Enoch Burke.

He also said that the article in question was read in full online by roughly 17,000 paid subscribers, while over 100,000 readers viewed the paywall for the report, which showed the headline and a top portion of the article.

The hearing continues tomorrow, when more witnesses will be heard from, and a judgement is expected.