The short answer: the process is not binding, and the outcome can be. Nobody can compel you to settle, and you may walk out of a mediation at any hour of any day. But the moment you sign a mediation settlement, it is enforceable as a contract between the parties. That combination is the whole design, and it is worth understanding properly.
Nothing Binds Until the Signature
A mediator has no power over you at all. No finding is made, no ruling issues, nobody is declared right, and no offer discussed during the day creates any obligation. You can arrive, listen, decline everything and leave — and you leave with every right you walked in with, because under the Mediation Act 2017 what was said in the room is confidential and generally inadmissible in later proceedings. That is why parties who are certain they will never settle still attend: the cost of finding out is one day and a fee, and the downside is genuinely capped. The freedom cuts both ways, of course — the other side is equally free to refuse, which is why mediation rewards preparation rather than pressure.
And Then It Binds Completely
Section 11 of the Act makes a mediation settlement enforceable as a contract between the parties, subject to what the parties themselves agree about its status — so the ordinary law of contract stands behind it and it can be sued on if breached. Where proceedings already exist, the settlement can be drafted to dispose of them: by consent order, by a strike-out on terms, or whatever mechanism suits. This is exactly why the drafting happens in the room, while everyone is still present. An agreement in principle at five o’clock is a different animal from a document both sides read identically six months later, and the gap between them is where deals quietly die — ambiguity about timing, about what is released, about what happens on default, about who executes what. A solicitor-mediator writes that document before anyone leaves, and every party is urged to take independent advice before signing it. The full walk-through of the day covers how that final hour actually runs.
The one-sentence version: mediation asks nothing of you until it asks everything — and the moment of commitment is entirely visible, entirely voluntary, and entirely yours. Everything before the signature is exploration; everything after it is a contract.
Wondering whether your dispute fits the room? 01 5827148 — names of the parties first, for the conflicts check.
Richard O’Shea — Solicitor & Mediator
Solicitor at Mary Molloy Solicitors (established 1981), holder of the Law Society of Ireland Diploma in Mediation and a TEP of the Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners. Mediations are conducted at The Ormond Building on Ormond Quay, at the firm’s Kilkenny office, at neutral venues, at the parties’ own premises — or fully online. Fees are agreed in writing with all parties before any mediation begins. 01 5827148 · richardoshea@marymolloysolicitors.com · LinkedIn
General information, not legal advice. The content of this website is general information about mediation and Irish law. It is not legal advice and does not create a solicitor—client relationship. Every dispute turns on its own facts, and advice on yours requires a consultation.
The mediator is not your legal adviser. Where Mary Molloy Solicitors is appointed as mediator, the mediator is neutral: the mediator acts for no party, advises no party, and does not decide the dispute. All parties are encouraged to take independent legal advice, and in particular to take advice before signing any mediation settlement. The firm does not act as mediator in any dispute in which it acts, or has acted, for a party — conflicts are checked before any appointment is accepted. Where the firm is instructed as solicitor for one party in a mediation, it acts for that party alone and does not act as mediator in that dispute.
Fees. Fees for mediation are agreed in writing with all parties before the mediation begins, and fees for legal services are agreed in writing with the client at the outset. In contentious business, a solicitor may not calculate fees or other charges as a percentage or proportion of any award or settlement.
Tax. Nothing on this website is tax advice. Where a dispute or its resolution has tax consequences — succession, business transfers, property, compensation payments — those questions belong with your accountant or tax adviser and with Revenue’s own guidance, and are best addressed before any settlement is signed.