At the 9 November dinner, Kelliher warmly welcomed the appointment of Mr Justice David Barniville as the designated Arbitration Judge of the High Court.
Promotion
Mr Justice Barniville replaces Mr Justice Brian McGovern following his promotion to the Court of Appeal.
Quantity surveyor Keith Kelliher, chair of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators Irish branch, said that CIArb very much looks forward to working with Justice Barniville on the promotion of arbitration and alternative dispute resolution generally.
Justice Brian McGovern was thanked for the immense support that he offered to CIArb and the wider ADR community during his tenure as designated Arbitration Judge.
Clear value of arbitration
Chair Keith Kelliher told the attendees that the organisation sees arbitration as having a clear value, strength and position in alternative dispute resolution.
“With the advent of the Mediation Act, we have for the first time a legislative framework for all aspects of ADR in Ireland,” he pointed out.
CIArb’s Bill Holohan recently issued a 36-page submission on mediation to the Justice Charles Meenan task force on the Cervical Check controversy, the annual dinner heard, but it was not referenced within the Meehan Report or indeed, acknowledged.
“We are disappointed that a mediation process was not the outcome of the report, particularly when mediation provided the sort of outcomes desired under the terms of reference of the task force,” said Keith Kelliher.
CIArb has also been working with the National Anti-Bullying Centre in DCU to bring mediation and conflict resolution skills to the education system.
“Over the next three years, we are committed to the introduction of mediation training and education of up to 800 secondary school teachers in Ireland, in mediation and conflict resolution skills,” Keith Kelliher said.
“This programme has already commenced with the recent training of six teachers in the CIArb Accredited Mediation Programme,” he said, thanking those who took part.
Green shoots
Adjudication numbers are showing green shoots of growth, the attendees heard, with increased training to reach the goal of bringing an accredited conciliation training programme to the marketplace by 2019.
Members of the executive team of Bill Holohan, James O’Donoghue, Martin Waldron, Tom Carey and Billy Morrissey were warmly thanked for their strenuous efforts in mainstreaming alternative dispute resolution.