Conflict between two senior people is not the same problem as conflict lower down with bigger salaries attached. The machinery that exists for everyone else does not fit, and that changes what can realistically be done about it.
Why the Usual Options Are Unavailable
A grievance procedure assumes somebody more senior can hear the complaint — awkward at executive level and structurally impossible at board level, where there is no higher authority in the organisation at all. HR is frequently subordinate to at least one of the people involved, which compromises its capacity to act however competent it is, and everyone including HR knows this. Any formal process becomes visible within days and is correctly read as instability — by staff, and sometimes by funders, customers, regulators or a parent organisation. And the individuals are usually too valuable, too visible or too contractually protected to be managed out quietly, which is the option that quietly resolves a great many mid-level conflicts. So further down an organisation there are intermediate steps; at this level there are largely two: a costly public rupture, or a quiet structured conversation. The situations recur — executives whose relationship has broken down while both remain essential, a chief executive and a chair with incompatible views of their roles, board members in sustained conflict over strategy or governance, a founder and the professional team appointed to run what they built, overlapping territory after a merger, and the boards of charities and not-for-profits, where disputes are frequently the most bitter of all because everyone is a volunteer acting for the cause and nobody can be dismissed.
Discretion, the Story, and the Legal Boundary
Confidentiality at this level is as much practical as statutory. Sessions are normally held away from the organisation’s own premises for obvious reasons; who knows the process is happening at all is decided deliberately; and agreed messaging is often the single most important term, because at senior level the story travels regardless — the only real question is whether it travels in a version both parties agreed or one assembled from corridor speculation. There is also a boundary that has to be respected rather than negotiated around. Mediation can address how directors work together, how meetings are conducted, how information flows, how disagreement is expressed and recorded, and how a board and an executive function alongside each other. It cannot determine whether duties have been breached, and it cannot displace obligations falling on directors individually — those are legal questions that may require advice, disclosure or formal action, and no agreement in a room disposes of them. Where a governance dispute has a genuine legal dimension it gets identified early and handled properly alongside. And where the outcome is that someone should leave — a legitimate result — that gets recognised openly rather than drifted into: exit terms are a negotiation needing separate advice on each side, while mediation’s remaining value is around the departure. The full page is here.
The timing point: senior conflicts are usually visible to the organisation long before anyone acts, because everybody below two people in conflict can see it precisely and is adjusting their behaviour accordingly. The cost of waiting is not just the relationship — it is what the whole layer beneath them concludes about how the organisation handles difficulty.
Discreet, and confidential from the first call: 01 5827148.
Richard O’Shea — Solicitor & Mediator
Solicitor at Mary Molloy Solicitors (established 1981) and holder of the Law Society of Ireland Diploma in Mediation. The firm also runs a substantial employment practice, which is why the honest sorting question — whether a situation needs a mediation or an investigation — gets answered at the first call rather than halfway through. Workplace mediations are conducted on site, at neutral venues, at The Ormond Building on Ormond Quay, at the Kilkenny office — or fully online. The mediator is appointed by both sides and acts for neither. 01 5827148 · richardoshea@marymolloysolicitors.com · LinkedIn
General information, not legal advice. This website contains general information about workplace mediation and Irish law. It is not legal advice and does not create a solicitor—client relationship. Every workplace situation 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, makes no findings and decides nothing. This is so regardless of which party is paying the fee. All participants are encouraged to take independent legal advice, and in particular to take advice before signing any agreement reached in mediation. Employees may wish to seek advice from their own solicitor or trade union. The firm does not act as mediator in any matter in which it acts, or has acted, for a party — conflicts are checked before any appointment is accepted.
Mediation is not a substitute for a required process. Some matters must be investigated rather than mediated, including allegations of serious misconduct, matters engaging health and safety duties, and protected disclosures. Nothing on this site suggests that mediation should displace an employer’s statutory obligations, a grievance or disciplinary procedure where one is required, or a complainant’s entitlement to have a complaint formally investigated or to bring proceedings.
Fees. Fees for mediation are agreed in writing 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 any payment or arrangement has tax consequences, those questions belong with your accountant or tax adviser and with Revenue’s own guidance, and are best addressed before anything is signed.