Mediation in education: The global and national legal context, and reflections on the voice of the child/young person in mediation

GEMME Ireland held an event dedicated to mediation in education on 25 June 2026 under the chairmanship of His Honour Judge Geoffrey Shannon SC.

The specific focus of the event was on raising awareness of mediation in education by highlighting the international and national legal framework for mediation and illustrating it with practical examples. It also highlighted the voice of the child and young person in mediation in education and presented examples of cases in which mediation has been used successfully, as well as situations where it has been less successful, together with the insights and lessons learned from those experiences.

The speakers were:

Professor Shivaun Quinlivan, Professor of Law and expert in equality, education and constitutional law. Her presentation will focus on the broad international and national legal context for mediation in education with some examples where mediation in education has worked particularly well, and perhaps less successfully (learnings arising etc).

Dr Aisling Parkes (BCL, LLM, PHD, MATHLE, BAP, MA, Coaching Psychology) is a senior academic at the School of Law, University College Cork and an internationally recognised expert in children’s rights. She will focus on the voice of the child/young person in mediation in education, rationale, and examples of where mediation in educational contexts involving an authentic voice for the child/young person has worked well/not so well (learnings arising etc).

The event included presentations followed by a Q&A session and discussion. GEMME Ireland would like to thank all the participants for their interest and engagement.

A further GEMME event on mediation in the special education and disability context is planned for November 2026.