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The Mediators' Green Pledge outlines measures for mediators to reduce their climate impact. View it here.Róisn is a founding Partner of ARC Mediation, founded in 2010.
She is a valued expert and legal academic and was awarded a Ph.D. in 2014 for her doctoral research on Judicial Separation and Divorce in the Circuit Court, Ireland. While working as a mediator since 2009 she has continued to carry out academic research with a particular focus on mediation and the civil justice system in Ireland post the commencement of the Mediation Act 2017. Her primary area of work is mediation and she continues to explore new developments, both nationally and globally, in order to evolve her service offering as a mediator.
Róisín was the Principal Investigator for Waterford Institute of Technology’s ‘The Family Mediation Project’ (2015-2019), trialing a family mediation process she developed, informed by global innovations. She and her colleague Dr Conneely carried out empirical research attending family law sittings with Ministerial consent in the District Courts in Ireland 2017-2019 seeking to understand why families chose litigation over mediation. In 2017 she was invited by the Department of Justice as a “relevant stakeholder” to make a submission on the Mediation Bill; in November 2018 she was invited by the Legal Aid Board to participate in a working group for the formation of the Mediation Council under the Mediation Act 2017; and in March 2019 she was invited as an expert to attend a meeting at Leinster House of the Joint Committee on Justice and Equality to make a submission and present her views on the topic of “Reform of the Family Law System” including the use of ADR. In May 2019 she was appointed as an external independent evaluator for the revalidation of a Certificate in Mediation by Griffith College Dublin, to be submitted to Quality and Qualifications Ireland (QQI), and in June 2020 she was appointed by the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection as a member of the Child Maintenance Review Group (2020-2022) chaired by former Circuit Court Judge Catherine Murphy. She successfully completed the barrister-at-law degree at King’s Inns and was called to the Bar in July 2021.
Róisin has significant experience as a mediator completing in excess of 500 cases since 2009 including Family, Work-place, Farm family, SME mediations, Commercial disputes, Succession disputes, Wards of Court and EPA (Enduring Power of Attorney) disputes and Personal Injury claims. Many of these cases have been referred to Róisín after legal proceedings have been initiated, and the majority of cases subsequently came to a mutually satisfactory agreement. Her preferred model of mediation is co-mediation and is expert at managing multi-party disputes and disputes involving legal representatives.
Róisín's preferred mediation model is co-mediation and her mediation style is primarily facilitative, but she also uses transformative and evaluative (option development as provided in section 8 (4) of the Mediation Act 2017). She takes a pragmatic approach, assisting parties to find workable solutions, based on the facts and the needs of the parties. She ensures that the parties are well informed and receive legal advice where they intend the mediation settlement to be legally binding between them. Her practice ARC Mediation exclusively offers co-mediation and ensures that the mediators are a good fit in terms of competencies for the issues that are the subject of a dispute.
Róisín primarily works in the area of civil disputes; including Family mediation involving parenting, financial arrangements, legal separation and divorce (often inter-jurisdictional), farm family and succession/probate disputes and inter-sibling disputes. She has mediated business disputes involving companies or partnerships, contract disputes, workplace disputes, and personal injury disputes.
On application
International Mediation Institute
Association of Family & Conciliation Courts (AFCC)
GEMME - European organisation of Judges in favour of mediation
Family Lawyers Association of Ireland
Completed 60 hour mediation training with Roundtable, Cork, 2008
Awarded 32 hour "Separating Couples" equivalence by the Mediators Institute of Ireland 2010
Child consultation Training, Dr Teresa Graham, 2011 and 2017
Family Mediators Association (UK) FMA Child Inclusive Mediation Training Awareness and Understanding 2020
Member of the Mediators Institute of Ireland 2008-2021 - completed annual CPD requirements including seminars/conferences/workshops/consultations, sharing & learning, presentations.
ADR module 2021 Kings Inns barrister-at-law degree
Participation in the delivery of various mediation and conflict management training programmes including;
Trainer for Friarylaw 60 hour mediation programme
Trainer for 32 Hour Family Mediation "Separating Couples" programme accredited by the Mediators Institute of Ireland 2019-2021
Trainer for 32 Hour Family Mediation programme accredited by the Irish Professional Mediators' Organisation 2021-2022
Chamber of Commerce approved Skillnet trainer for workplace conflict management
Regional Leader and Group Mentor Waterford Chamber of Commerce Regional Leaders Programme 2019-2020 and 2020-2021.
Most recent;
May 2022: Guest Panelist at Symposium hosted by the ADR Institute of BC: Mandatory Mediation domestically and abroad.
February 2022: Guest Presenter at webinar hosted by the ADR Institute of Canada: Regulation of Mediation: Should the Irish Mediation Act 2017 be considered as a Model for Canada.
January 2020 Keynote speaker at 'Mediation: Contemporary Issues' mediation seminar at King's Inns, Dublin
May 2019 presented at the AFCC annual conference on research findings Domestic Violence and the Irish District Court.
February 2018 keynote speaker at Windsor Castle speaking on ‘Modern families, modern family justice: supporting family relationships in fast changing socio-political-economic climates’, a St George’s House European Consultation.
February 2018 presented on the Family Mediation Project at the Nuffield Foundation’s ‘Better decisions in private family law…’ seminar London
Most recent;
Conneely, Dempsey, O’Shea, ‘Custody and Access in the District Court’, Irish Journal of Family Law (2021) 24(4) I.J.F.L. pgs 84 - 92
Conneely, Dempsey, O’Shea, ‘ Ireland’s Mediation Adventure – A practitioner flying on “mutinous winds”, IMI blog post, 14th July 2021
https://imimediation.org/2021/07/14/irelands-mediation-adventure-a-practitioner-flying-on-mutinous-winds/
Conneely, Dempsey, O’Shea, ‘Child Maintenance and the District Court’, Irish Journal of Family Law (2021) 24 (2) I.J.F.L.
Conneely, Dempsey, O’Shea, “On Such a Full Sea are We Now Afloat” Family Mediation in Practice in the Wake of the Mediation Act 2017 (2020) 23(3) I.J.F.L.
Conneely, Dempsey, O’Shea ‘Family Mediation and the District Court’’
Irish Journal of Family Law (2020) 23 (2) I.J.F.L.
Conneely, O’Shea ‘Family mediation: the Irish perspective’
Chapter 4 in ‘Family Mediation Contemporary Issues’ Bloomsbury Professional, May 2020
‘Domestic Violence in the District Court’
Irish Journal of Family Law (2019) 22 (4) I.J.F.L. Conneely, Dempsey, O’Shea
Conneely, O’Shea ‘Innovative Family Mediation Research Initiative Embedded in the Community in Ireland’ Family Court Review, (2019) Wiley, Vol 57, Issue 3
IMI