The High Court has ruled that Enoch Burke was lawfully transferred from Mountjoy Prison to Castlerea Prison and that his continued detention there for civil contempt is lawful.
In a judgment delivered on 18 March 2026, Mr Justice Cregan rejected Burke’s argument that a High Court order of 19 January 2026, which specifically committed him to Mountjoy Prison, prevented his transfer elsewhere.
Burke had been returned to prison after the court found that he had again breached an order not to trespass on the grounds of Wilson’s Hospital School. He was moved from Mountjoy to Castlerea on 1 March 2026.
The Irish Prison Service told the court that Burke’s prison regime had been reduced from enhanced to standard following a review of his behaviour. Officials then assessed that he could not safely be housed in the general population at Mountjoy and that overcrowding made a single cell there impractical. Castlerea had greater capacity to accommodate him safely in a single cell.
The court did not make findings on disputed allegations about Burke’s conduct during prison escorts, saying those matters were for prison management.
Cregan J held that Burke falls within the statutory definition of a prisoner even though his detention arises from civil contempt rather than a criminal conviction. Section 17 of the Criminal Justice (Administration) Act 1914 allows prisoners to be confined in any prison to which the Prison Acts apply and to be transferred between prisons during their detention.
The judge said previous High Court decisions had consistently confirmed that prison transfers are an executive function and do not require the prisoner to remain in the institution named in the original committal order.
Burke had not separately challenged the transfer decision as arbitrary, capricious or unjust. The court found the stated reasons for the move — including his safety, prison discipline and overcrowding — were reasonable.
His application was dismissed.