Given that IPMO is only 20 months old we were thrilled to be asked by The Wheel to host a parallel session at their Summit event at Croke Park this week.

IPMO was born in a post-Covid world where mediators like everyone else had to quickly adapt to new technologies and new ways to offer mediation services. The Summit conference was an opportune moment to meet in-person with others in the voluntary sector and for IPMO to reflect on where we are going, and how the needs of our communities, particularly marginalised communities, may also meet the needs of our members. Chair of IPMO, Dr Róisín O’Shea was the MC for the event, introducing speakers Laura Gibbons who works with Dóchas, Zsé Varga from Volunteer Ireland, and Mary Connors Aldrige and Joseph Ateb from IPMO. The title of the session was ‘The opportunities that volunteering can create for multicultural Ireland’.

Mary and Joseph who lead the IPMO Community Mediation Committee spoke about the need to understand what is meant by community mediation in Ireland and explored a mutually beneficial model which meets the needs of the community to access low or no cost mediation and the need of mediators to gain practice experience before they start their professional journey.

l-r Dr Roisin O'Shea, Joseph Ateb, Mary Connors (of the IPMO), Cherif Labreche  (CEO of New Communities Partnership)

As Shane Dempsey Deputy Chair of IPMO noted, "volunteering to gain mediation experience is not a destination it is a means to gain experience in order to move on to professional practice".

Mary, a member of the Travelling Community spoke of her pathway to mediation, her recent appointment as CEO of Minceiri Port Lairge and the excellent work of the Traveller Mediation Service headed up by Chris McDonagh. Joseph spoke about coming to Ireland from Nigeria, studying law and securing a masters scholarship in mediation. Both spoke about the traditional values of their communities, the older dispute resolution culture and raising the awareness of mediation in those and other marginalised communities such as refugees, asylum seekers and immigrant communities.

Dr O’Shea facilitated a panel discussion which included guest panellist Cherif Labreche, CEO of New Communities Partnership and a Board member of the Wheel. Dr O’Shea closed the session emphasising the importance of volunteering and finding ways to attract volunteers such that organisations in the voluntary sector can thrive and communities benefit both locally and globally.