Mediation should be the first resort for conflict resolution

Global conflict and disruption is a poison in our lives, making all of us more anxious and stressed. But there is a better way to deal with conflict, writes Róisín O'Shea

In 2017, 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. File picture

We are in a time of global disruption. Every day it seems there is something new to worry about; whether it is the harrowing possibility of a new world war, disruption to fuel supplies, AI changing forever the way we work or another story in the media of man’s inhumanity to man. 

In speaking of the fading of the rules-based international order in his address at Davos in January this year, Canadian prime minister Mark Carney spoke of a harsh new reality, stating: “We are in the midst of a rupture, not a transition.”