Ms Aideen O'Reilly:

It is normally the former arrangement, whereby the parties bring whomsoever they wish to bring. They are separate, but the mediator may sometimes bring some or all of them together. There may be side meetings, but the point I wish to stress is that once the parties submit to mediation, it is the mediator who controls the process. It is his or her professional judgment as to what is the best process to follow in a particular dispute.