Mr. Seán Ó hUallacháin:

I differ from Dr. O'Shea on that, albeit there may be some analysis to be done. There may be a learning curve and there may be cases where it is appropriate, but I would be more in line with the view of the Rape Crisis Network. In general terms, domestic violence or abuse cases are not appropriate matters for mediation. My colleagues would have greater experience of this than I have at this stage of my career, but my experience is that these situations are fraught, even if, as Dr. O'Shea says, rightly, it may not be a matter of demonstrable physical violence but of other types of abuse. It is possibly dangerous. The victim in the relationship could come out the worse, particularly in a mediation where the mediator is not a lawyer. There is anecdotal evidence that mediation with a mediator and no lawyers can lead to the dominant spouse or partner engaging, in effect, in bullying during the mediation process. Lawyer-assisted mediation is slightly different because each person has a protector. In general terms, my experience tells me to be against mediation in situations of domestic violence or abuse, at least in the early stages.