Michael Doherty, December 2011
In conversations with other mediators, attendance at conflict resolution workshops and reading about styles of mediation, it is my understanding that there is no clear definitive style of mediation process that is a 'fit for all types of disputes'. 


Michael Doherty

There are many styles of mediation that can be used separately, or a mix of many, to suit a particular situation. The three styles or models of mediation that I have used in my practice have been a Facilitative model, and Evaluative model and a Shuttle mediation model. These three models have helped form my skills as a competent mediator / trainer and have been instrumental in shaping my practice which has given me the privilege of mediating a range of disputes from neighbourhood, relationships, family disputes, to more complex divorce and custody issues as well as traveller / settled community issues, to issues in Northern Irelands conflict such as parades and protests. This article will look at Shuttle Mediation and how it can be used in the context of parades disputes.
Shuttle Mediation
Sometimes disputants will not agree to face-to-face mediation. This occurs when there is a lot of anger, feelings are very high or one party feels they just cannot face the other party under any circumstances. This has happened in parade disputes in Northern Ireland. Major disruption has been caused over the years in Northern Ireland in relation to contentious parades, when there is a dispute between the Loyal Orders and residents over the route of a parade. Several years ago, the Orange Order made a decision not to talk to anyone associated with resident groups or the Parades Commission, which is the body set up to make a legal determination on a parade in the absence of agreement between the parties. In these situations mediators may be accepted to mediate the dispute on the condition that there will be no face-to-face negotiations. The mediator, however, may be allowed to take communication back and forth until agreements or accommodations can be reached.
When the process of Shuttle mediation is agreed upon, it is imperative that both parties in the dispute agree who the mediators will be. In the situation of the parades dispute in Northern Ireland, the religion of the mediators becomes important. I would contend that the professionalism and impartiality of the mediation is more important than the religious identification of the mediator(s), although I realise that the parties in the dispute might prefer someone from their own religious/political persuasion to act as mediator.
Nevertheless, if Shuttle Mediation is being used, it is quite important that ground rules are set at the beginning of the process.
Listed below is a set of ground-rules I have used in a shuttle mediation process in a parades dispute in Northern Ireland:
•All parties agree that they will enter a Shuttle Mediation process.
•All parties agree there will be no face-to-face mediation.
•All parties agree to the identity of their representatives to the mediator.
• The names of the mediators are kept out of the public domain.
•The mediators will only speak to three representatives of each party and understand that they may not be the people making the ultimate decisions.
•If one of the representatives drops out, there can be no substitutes.
•Information on progress will be given only to those people that each party recognises as people who need to know what is happening (i.e. the Parades Commission, Police, etc.)
•No press release will be issued until an accommodation, if any, is reached.
The location of the Shuttle Mediation is important. Some mediators have tried to bring respective disputants to separate rooms in the same building. I have argued that this is totally unnecessary, as it can cause frustration to the party who may be waiting in another room in the same building. I believe that the disputants should stay in their own locality and that the mediators should move from place to place. This has the advantage of the disputants having quicker access to decision makers who may be present in the locality.
The Shuttle Mediation Process
After establishing important factors of the Shuttle mediation process —mediators agreed by all parties, location and ground rules—the process begins by agreeing which party the mediators will meet first. At this first meeting, the party's issues are listed for discussion and taken to the other party. I believe that this communication should be in writing and signed by the respective representatives to eliminate any thoughts that the mediators are negotiating on behalf of one or other of the parties.
The second party discusses the communication from the first party and the mediators address any questions of clarification, if necessary. After this discussion takes place, the second party's issues can now be written up, signed and brought back to the first party. This now becomes the first communication from the "other side." This process continues until it is brought to a successful conclusion or one or both parties decide they cannot come to an agreement. If this happens then the mediation is closed.
Shuttle Mediation is a slower process than other forms of mediation, nor does it guarantee success any more than face to face meetings. However, it can offer a way forward at a time when parties are so entrenched that they cannot bring themselves to sit opposite their opponents in a traditional mediation.
Biography
Michael Doherty is currently Director of the Peace and Reconciliation Group (PRG) in Derry, Northern Ireland and has been a full-time professional in developing Community Relation’s work since 1987. He was trained as a Mediator at Fordham Law School in New York and at the School of Psychotherapy and Counselling at Regents College, London. Since 1996 Michael has worked on, and successfully mediated, some of the major parades disputes in Northern Ireland. He is a strong advocate for the use of mediation as an alternative to violence and has delivered lectures and workshops on this theme at conferences and universities around the world.