IPMO's Board comprises dedicated professionals with diverse backgrounds and a wide range of life and professional experience. 

Róisín is a former Irish Research Council scholar, who was awarded a Ph.D. in 2014 for her doctoral research on Judicial Separation and Divorce in the Circuit Court, Ireland. She was the 2010 winner of the HEA Innovation in Research award and in 2012 was joint runner-up for her paper "An EU Justice Model" at the Innovating Justice awards of the Hague Institute for Innovation of Law (HiiL). She has significant experience as a mediator completing hundreds of cases since 2009 including Family, Work-place, Farm family, SME mediations, Commercial disputes, Succession disputes, Wards of Court and EPA (Enduring Power of Attorney) disputes and Personal Injury claims. Many of these cases have been referred to Róisín after legal proceedings have been initiated, and the majority of cases subsequently came to a mutually satisfactory agreement.

Róisín is a partner in Arc Mediation, is the Chairperson of the Irish Professional Mediators’ Organisation (IPMO), and an IMI Certified Mediator (International Mediation Institute). In June 2020 Dr O’Shea was appointed by the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection as a member of the Child Maintenance Review Group (2020-2021) chaired by former Circuit Court Judge Catherine Murphy. She is a former Director of the Mediators Institute of Ireland 2015-2021, and was called to the bar in 2021. 

Shane Dempsey is a trained and practising mediator since 2008, and is a founding partner of ARC mediation established in 2010. Shane has completed thousands of hours of mediations since ARC was founded, with over 400 agreements in family, workplace and commercial cases. 

Shane Dempsey holds a BSc  in Industrial Computing and an MSc in telecommunications software engineering. Before becoming a full-time mediator, he worked as a contract software developer, IT consultant and professional researcher for 14 years. As part of that work he was involved in the administrative & technical management of major national & European-funded research projects. 

Shane is responsible for data analysis on a legal research project involving the South East Technological University (SETU) and ARC Mediation, which conducted empirical studies into family law outcomes in the Irish district court. The publications cover a range of family law hearings including Domestic Violence applications, Access applications, Maintenance applications & attitudes from litigants & legal practitioners to the use of Family Mediation. He is a Certified member of the International Mediators’ Institute (IMI) and a member of the Irish Commercial Mediation Association (ICMA).

Ercus is a practising barrister/Senior Counsel, having practiced at the bar since 1970. He is a member of the bars of Northern Ireland, England and Wales, Australia,, New South Wales.

Ercus has been actively involved in ADR, including mediation and arbitration, for most of his professional practice. He is a Fellow of chartered Institute of arbitrators since 1991. He was awarded a diploma in International arbitration from DIT, now Technical University Dublin in 1998. 

He has served as an Arbitrator in many international, and domestic, institutes – including, Court of arbitration for sport, Lausanne, ICC, Paris; IDRI, Nigeria.

Ercus is an Adjunct Professor of University College Dublin and an authority law on arbitration law.  He has lectured on arbitration law for the Honourable Society of Kings Inns from 1990 – 2005. He has also lectured in arbitration law, DIT and UCD, also TCD, and for the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators, London.

Ercus is on the editorial board of the Commercial Law Practitioner, Irish Law Reports monthly, the Irish Employment law Journal and the Irish Employment Law Reports. 

Anastasia is a skilled and experienced former Barrister.Skilled in the provision of Legal Advice, drafting of legal documents including contracts, corporate governance and negotiation on behalf of clients. She is an experienced Lecturer and Program Leader of the MA in Dispute Resolution and Professional Legal Studies in Independent Colleges. 

Anastasia received her  BL from The Honorable Society of King's Inn in 1994. She practiced as a barrister from 1996 to 2017. She has worked as legal consultant for the Office of the Attorney General in Ireland and was a faculty member of the Law School of the Law Society of Ireland from 1995 to 2010. She has additionally worked as a senior lecturer in Law in Griffith College Dublin. She joined Independent Colleges in 2007 and was responsible for the development of the MA in Dispute Resolution programme. 

Anastasia is also a council member of Water Safety Ireland. 

Gareth Leech is a specialist of Victim Offender Mediation (VOM) and has more than 10 years experience in the field. With a basis in Restorative Practices and Restorative Justice Gareth has worked internationally, primarily in the USA and European Union on a number of projects involving such areas as judicial reform, probationary services, rehabilitation of offenders, reintroduction training of military personnel into civilian life, integration of migrant service users into host societies, restoration and advocacy of indigenous ethnic groups, reduction of sectarian violence, gang activity prevention, harm reduction of substance abuse, and reconciliation of communities in the context of violent ethnic conflict. 

Gareth has an M.Phil in International Peace Studies and Conflict Resolution from Trinity College Dublin, and has trained volunteers and practitioners from 25+ countries in alternative dispute resolution techniques. While currently operating internationally through web based services, Gareth is primarily based in his homeland of the Republic of Ireland. He is currently engaged in lecturing in local education centres, in Independent Colleges' MA in Dispute Resolution, practicing as a qualified Mediator within the legal sphere, and performing RJ and ADR within a variety of public and private sectors throughout Ireland, The European Union, and the USA.

Penny is a lecturer in Dispute Resolution Studies at Trinity College Dublin, solicitor, mediator and academic writer. She wrote Mediation Law, a legal analysis of Ireland's Mediation Act 2017, published by Bloomsbury in 2017.

Penny has lectured on mediation and dispute resolution at Trinity for the past nine years. She has also written extensively on legal topics and has published three books to date. She is currently writing a book on Mediation and Justice to be published by Routledge in 2023. Penny is a lawyer by training qualifying as a solicitor in London and attorney in New York before moving on to teaching law in London for 10 years.

Penny has extensive experience as a director of not for profit organisations and was the chair of the environmental charity Global Action Plan Ireland for seven years.

Brian commenced his mediation journey in 2008 while a member of An Garda Síochána.  He retired in 2022 with over three decades of experience, ranging from front-line policing to critical risk management and decision-making but most especially building and maintaining relationships within the community and partner organisations

Brian has Post Graduate Diplomas in Conflict Resolution and Reconciliation (Trinity College) and in Juvenile Justice (Kings Inns), as well as a Diploma in Personal & Business Coaching (Irish Lifecoach Institute). He is a qualified Family Mediator, CINERGY© Conflict Management Coach and Restorative Practices Facilitator & Trainer.  Brian continues to work with community based organisations being a member of the Board of Directors of Restorative Justice Services, volunteering with Dublin Community Mediation and delivering Restorative Practice Training on behalf of the Childhood Development Initiative.  Having also set up his private mediation practice, Resolve Conflict Management Services, Brian understands the supports required by the membership of the IPMO.

Mary holds an BA in Social Care and received a Professional Diploma in Leadership and Management from University College Dublin. She is an experienced youth and community practitioner and dedicated Traveller Activist and holds the position of the Assistant National Co Ordinator of the National Traveller Partnership, a cohort of fourteen local county organisations and four National Traveller lead and Traveller specific organisations in Ireland.

These organisations aim to promote Traveller culture and pride in the wider community and address the stark levels of disadvantage, inequality and discrimination faced by Travellers living in Ireland on a daily basis. Coming from the Traveller community herself, Mary believes it is fundamentally important that Travellers are empowered to take the lead on raising and addressing the key issues that affect their lives, in partnership with ally supporters and organisations.

Fredericka is a Chartered Member of the CIPD and a Certified Management Consultant (CMC) with the IMCA. She is currently a member of the Executive Council of the SFA and a Board Member of the Institute of Management Consultants and Advisers.

A graduate of UL and NCI in Human Resources Management, Fredericka has been working in the field of Human Resource Management since the mid 1990’s and since then has held a number of Senior HR Management roles with a range of organisations from multinationals, start-ups, to indigenous Irish companies across the tech, ICT and Financial Services sectors.

Fredericka set up Voltedge Management in 2011 with her business partner Joyce Rigby-Jones and now provides HR Consultancy Services to organisations of varying size across Ireland and internationally. Their client base extends from very small (2+ employees) to much larger businesses, and frequently provide project support to HR departments and senior management teams of larger organisations on areas such as Change Management, Organisation Design and Development of People Strategy projects. Fredericka was recently was a member of the taskforce subgroup on the National SME and Entrepreneurship Growth Plan Report and is a current member of the Enterprise Ireland Panel of HR/OD Consultants. 

Joseph graduated from the University of Maynooth with a Bachelor of Law (LLB) in 2019. Joseph was granted a Taught Master’s Degree Scholarship in 2019 and proceeded to commence a Master’s Degree Programme in Mediation & Conflict Intervention in the University of Maynooth, graduating in 2020.

He qualified as an MII certified Mediator in 2019. As a freelance Mediator, Joseph has done work on behalf of the University of Maynooth on diversity/equality-related issues.

Joseph works as a Volunteer Mediator with the Traveller’s Mediation Services Athlone, Co Westmeath. This role involves resolving conflicts between the Traveller community and social housing tenants from the African communities. The role also involves, creating awareness on the role of mediation within these communities. He also works as a volunteer mediator with the Asylum Seekers Accommodation Centre in Tullamore, Co Offaly.  Joseph is an Assistant Industrial Organiser for the SIPTU Trade Union. 

Marie Dennehy is a qualified solicitor and professional mediator, specialising in conflict resolution in the areas of Probate, Farm Families, Succession, Property and Commercial Mediation. She works with ARC Mediation in Waterford. 

Marie graduated with a BCL from UCD and was admitted to the Roll of Solicitors in 1981, and has worked since then in private practice specialising in conveyancing (both private and commercial), Landlord and Tenant Law, Probate and Family law. Marie has always had a keen interest in Alternative Dispute Resolution and trained as a Collaborative Lawyer in 2007, going on to train in Civil & Commercial mediation with Friarylaw ADR Ltd. Marie brings her in-depth & practical knowledge of the law and litigation to her work as a mediator. 

Marie is a founding Board member of the Waterford Hospice and a member of the board of Waterford Rape and Sexual Abuse Centre.  She is also a board member of Carriglea Cairde Services Ltd in Dungarvan, Co Waterford.