ARC Founder and Chair of the IPMO, Dr. Roisin O’Shea, has an article in the Irish Examiner about the IPMO National Conference from April of this year.
See article here . As Roisin illustrates in her op-ed:
“Ireland boldly stepped into the new frontier of 21st century dispute resolution with the enactment of the Mediation Act 2017, leading the way on the world stage with a statutory framework for the service of mediation. This progressive act promotes the early use of mediation to resolve all civil disputes, and even where litigation has already started the act enables the parties to step away from the courts to try mediation, right up until a final determination is made by a judge”
The conference and article noted the importance of the recent High Court case ruled by Justice Twomey ( V Media Doo & Anor v Techads Media Limited [2025] IEHC 430).
“This case sets an important benchmark for any court hearing any civil dispute, (including separations or divorce), that a hearing should only commence where the judge is satisfied the plaintiffs have been comprehensively advised on mediating rather than litigating their dispute.
The judge noted the importance the act places on plaintiffs being advised on the benefits of mediation, “…before the client ends up on what might be termed the merry-go-round of litigation — one that is all too easy to get on, but can be difficult to get off.”
The conference idea was originated with ARC Founder Shane Dempsey, Deputy Chair of the IPMO. Shane and Roisin founded the IPMO in 2021 with like-minded colleagues and mediators who wanted to promote the professionalisation of mediation in Ireland.
Since then the organisation has gone from strength to strength with over 100 mediator members and a more than 20 student members.