(An article from the MII President in Irish Times 23rd May 2016)

Mediation is about dealing with the nitty gritty.

Sabine Walsh, president of the Mediators’ Institute of Ireland, says mediation costs a fraction of the cost of litigation, and the route to resolving conflict is speedier.

Sometimes mediator Sabine Walsh finds herself talking to couples about seemingly trivial matters such as lifts to football matches and who is going where for their summer holidays. Mediation is about dealing with the nitty gritty, she stresses, whether it’s family conflict, strife in the boardroom or screaming matches across the garden fence about who is leaving the rubbish out in the wrong place. Walsh, the president of the Mediators Institute of Ireland (MII), says her job is to help the parties in front of her to find a comprehensive, mutually acceptable, long-lasting resolution.

As well as being a fraction of the cost of litigation, the route to resolving conflict will be speedier, she says.