I recently read a paper on the future of mediation within the Irish Health Service and whether or not it will be the way ahead for resolving internal issues - “Is Mediation and Conflict Resolution the way forward in the Irish Health Service”, John Hynes. Regretfully I only just came across this paper but it had been published in 2007 and was indeed, very forward looking for the time.

Not having visibility within the health service myself, I would very much like to see a follow-up to this work, which takes the status quo of mediation within the service and portrays its effectiveness and adoption. Anecdotally, from other mediators, I am aware that the health board can often suggest the mediation route to families who are in conflict and who come before the health board for assistance. However, I have little knowledge of what happens within the service itself.

I know that since the original prose was published, many companies and governmental organisations have enshrined mediation into their grievance procedures as a step towards resolution before more formal procedures are invoked. Naturally this is a welcome step by employers both governmental and private enterprise.

With so many cases hitting the news regarding employees making claims against employers and again anecdotal evidence to suggest that many grievances are dealt with in a highly confrontational manner, it would be nice to see some real data that outlines how frequently mediation is used by employers to settle disputes and of those cases how many are resolved by the mediation process.

Certainly in my experience, mediation in the workplace is greatly underutilised by Irish employers. The U.S. and Canada appear to be years ahead of us at the moment and that is a great shame. So many workplace disputes can be resolved by bringing people to the table, as equals, to discuss their concerns when it is so often the case that their concerns are just not being listened too. This goes for employees as much as it does for employers!

I would tend to believe that family mediation still dominates the realm of mediators working in Ireland today. Perhaps we will start to see a shift as mediation becomes more recognised and more importantly, more understood. There are still many misconceptions as to what mediation can do and how the process can be effective. As a mediator myself, my opinion is obviously biased but nobody should close themselves off to the power of open communication. We carry so many burdens with us in life that we fail to recognise and/or deal with, leading to prolonged conflict and suffering. Mediation can stop that self-destructive pattern and open up new doors to enable everyone to move on with their life. It’s always good to talk!