About Us
our vision
A society that handles conflict better.
Our mission
As a mediation development organisation we provide expertise and support to manage, resolve and transform conflict. We do this by providing high quality services, training, and developing new models of practice.
Our Values
Integrity
Confidentially delivering on our promises.
Respect
Recognising the innate dignity and value of others.
Justice
Working through the principles of impartiality and fairness.
Nonviolence
Actively encouraging positive peace.
Creativity
Striving for innovation and supporting others to generate new ways forward.
Courage
Facing challenges with confidence and perseverance.
Our Staff
John Conaghan
Managing Director
John Conaghan
John has had a varied career working in senior positions within the Pharmaceutical Industry and the local Community & Voluntary Sector. From 1992-2009 John worked in the pharmaceutical industry in Healthcare Development and Regional Business Manager roles across the UK and Ireland. From 2009-2023 John worked at Inspire, an all-island mental health charity. From 2017-2023 John was the Group Director for Therapeutic & Wellbeing Services at Inspire, holding strategic responsibility for the delivery of mental health and wellbeing services to over 200 organisations. Since 2009 John has served as a school governor in both primary and post-primary schools and from 2009-2016 John was Chair of the SE Belfast Scout Association. In 2024 John was appointed a Non-Executive Director at Belfast Health & Social Care Trust and he is a qualified ICF Coach Practitioner. John is a passionate supporter of the Community and Voluntary and Social Enterprise sectors and a leading expert on Social Value, Compassionate Leadership and Creating Psychologically Safe Cultures in the Workplace.
Rob Colwell
Operations Director
Rob Colwell
Rob studied Business and Finance and started his career in the banking industry working as a Foreign Exchange Trader. After a voluntary period in politics, Rob started with Mediation NI over 15 years ago, working on the Social Partnership Programme to develop local mediative capacity in local communities.
Rob currently manages the day-to-day operations of the organisation, including managing the finances of the charity and maintaining the charity’s headquarter premises on University Street.
Rob currently manages the day-to-day operations of the organisation, including managing the finances of the charity and maintaining the charity’s headquarter premises on University Street.
Laurie Randall
Mediation & Development Director
Laurie Randall
Laurie was born in 1968 in Belfast. She gained a bachelors degree in Peace Studies at the University of Bradford and a Peace and Conflict Studies M.A. at the University of Ulster. She works freelance as a mediator, facilitator and trainer. She is involved in Pastoral Support with the Diocese of Connor and is a member of Connect (an ad hoc multi-denominational group resourcing church mediation). She worked with Mediation Northern Ireland since 1995 as both an Associate and as a staff member (2000-2010). Past involvements include work with police training, the Parades Commission, and integrated education.
Bobby Marno
Business Development Director
Bobby Marno
Bobby is a seasoned entrepreneur with over two decades of experience in business management. His career highlights include founding and successfully growing multiple ventures across various industries from finance to film production. Known for his strategic vision and hands-on approach, Bobby is a collaborative leader who fosters innovation and teamwork, empowering his teams to achieve remarkable results. Bobby is also committed to giving back to the community and has actively supported charitable initiatives throughout his career. With his entrepreneurial spirit and proven leadership, Bobby continues to make a significant impact in the business world.
Board Members
Anne-Marie Blaney
Anne-Marie Blaney - Chair
Anne-Marie Blaney is an experienced justice practitioner combining a legal career, dispute resolution experience and governance insights. She contributes through a lens of extensive real life legal and ADR experience, alongside rule of law, academic, legal aid and justice insights.
Anne-Marie is Advisory Board member with the International Bar Association Access to Justice and Legal Aid Committee. She served on the Legal Aid Board Ireland and chaired the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators Ireland. Anne-Marie holds an LLM in European Law, MA (Ethics) together with Law Society of Ireland certifications in Executive Leadership and in Professional Education. She is accredited as a Civil, Commercial and Family Mediator, and member of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators, the Mediators Institute of Ireland, College of Mediators U.K., Northern Ireland Law Society and Law Society of Ireland.
Nikita Brijpaul
Nikita Brijpaul - Vice Chair - Business Development
Nikita has over 20 years of experience in business development across a diverse range of industries, including FMCG, pharmaceutical, and construction. However h has spent the majority of his career in the telecommunications sector, having held positions with Telefonica UK and Liberty Global.
Nikita currently volunteers as a mentor for Men’s Alliance NI, an organization that provides support for male victims of domestic abuse. Additionally, he holds positions as a Trustee Member of Mutual Energy
Nikita currently works as the Commercial Partner for the Lisburn Castlereagh City Council.
Nikita holds an MBA from the Adam Smith Business School at the University of Glasgow and is a Fellow at the Chartered Management Institute.
Prof Colin Murray
Prof Colin Murray - Company Secretary
Colin has taught Constitutional Law and Counter-Terrorism Law at Newcastle Law School for over fifteen years. His research encompasses prisoner disenfranchisement and the right to vote, imperialism’s impact on the UK Constitution and the human rights implications of special counter-terrorism powers. His ongoing research explores the implications of Brexit for Northern Ireland and culminated a major Economic and Social Research Council project on governance and identity in Northern Ireland amid the EU-UK Withdrawal Agreement and Trade and Cooperation Agreement negotiations. In the course of this research he appeared before parliamentary committees.
Dr Esther McGuinness
Dr Esther McGuinness
Dr Esther McGuinness is Head of School of Law at Ulster University. She is a founding member and Co Director of the Ulster Law Clinic, where she supervises LLM students and practices/advises on all areas of employment law. A qualified mediator, with 20+ years’ experience in the employment law field, she is also a founding member of the Social Justice Hub/Foyle Family Justice Centre, which specialises in providing advice and support to survivors of domestic violence and their families.
Julian McGrath
Julian McGrath
Julian McGrath has worked in education for over 27 years, primarily as Head of Politics and Head of Year in a leading grammar school.
He has served as an Alliance Party councillor on Antrim and Newtownabbey Borough Council since 2018, with a particular commitment to anti-poverty work. He has chaired the Operations Committee and served as Vice-Chair of the Community Development Committee.
Since 2019, he has also served on the Policing and Community Safety Partnership (PCSP), contributing to local initiatives that build trust, improve safety, and support community engagement.
He brings to Mediation NI a practical background in education, local government, and community work, with a focus on collaboration, fairness, and getting things done.
Nicola Johnston
Nicola Johnston
Nicola Johnston is a civil servant with twenty years experience in both the public and voluntary sectors. She completed the boardroom apprentice scheme in 2024 and will bring her learning from this to the board. She has held a variety of roles within the civil service over the last fifteen years and prior to this she held positions in education and the voluntary sector. She has extensive project management and information management experience.
Associates
Sean OBaoill
Sean OBaoill
Sean has been involved in Community Relations, Peace and Conflict resolution work for 20 years including time with Corrymeela, the Peace People, Youth for Peace, Kilcranny House, the Parades Commission and Mediation Northern Ireland. He is an experienced trainer who engages effectively with a diversity of people.
Lorraine Thompson
Lorraine Thompson
Lorraine is a self motivated, resourceful, creative, calm and dependable qualified youth worker with extensive experience of project management. She has expertise in design and delivery of innovative training programmes for both adults and young people using a variety of methods including experiential learning. She has skills and am particularly interested in people development using methods of facilitation, coaching, mentoring and reflective practice. Her experience includes over 20 years of youth work practice, over 15 years of project management and over 11 years of learning, training and development.
Gordon McDade
Gordon McDade
Gordon is passionate about the business of people development and through his work offer positive and practical coaching, mentoring and consultancy services to individual people on their life journey, to those involved in leadership roles in the large organisations, the community and voluntary sector and the faith sector, and to small businesses, social enterprises, community groups and charities seeking a greater impact with greater resources. Gordon helps groups, charities and businesses thrive, and fulfil their goals and achieve their mission.
Stefania Gualberti
Stefania Gualberti
Stefania is a trainer, facilitator, and mediator. She has a degree and a Masters in Peace Studies (University of Pisa, Italy). She moved to Belfast in 2008 and has been involved in the peacebuilding and community relations sectors in different roles since then. She is passionate about nonviolence, conflict transformation, diversity and migration, and language.
Paul Hutchinson
Paul Hutchinson
Paul has a professional background in counselling, drama therapy and mediation. He has extensive experience in training, evaluation/research, community relations and community arts programmes.
Ann Burnett
Ann Burnett
Ann has spent a long career in Human Resources in the public and private sector. During this time she has undertaken further development by completing a law degree. Ann obtained her mediation certificate in 2015 and since this time has mainly managed conflict in the workplace. Ann's interests include cake making and she has also opened a self catering lodge to continue her love of meeting and talking with people.
Scott Alexander
Scott Alexander
Scott started in employment relations in 1986 and joined the Labour Relations Agency in 1992, where he held key roles, including with the Arbitration Secretary for three years. He also took leadership roles in NIPSA, serving as Chair and Secretary of the Branch at various times. In 2006, Scott joined Legal Island, where he worked until 2022, and designed and chaired employment law programmes and training events held throughout the island of Ireland. Scott served as a Governor (2015-2023) and was Chair of the Staffing Committee at Southern Regional College. A mediator since 2010, he founded Scott Alexander Mediation Plus in 2022. Scott is qualified mediator, mentor, and coach, with extensive experience in these fields.
Frankie Healy
Mike Gaston
Mike Gaston
Mike is a veteran broadcast journalist. He covered the Northern Ireland conflict for the BBC, Associated Press Radio and CBC. He’s now a classic case of poacher turned gamekeeper. Blame Johann Galtung! He currently works as an independent tv producer, podcast presenter and mediator.
He was trained as a mediator by Mediation Northern Ireland in 2004 and initially worked as a co-mediator in workplace and neighbour disputes. Since then he’s worked on cross community, cross border, cross cultural and ex-combatant peace building in Ireland (north and south), north west England and Haiti as both team member, project lead and peace building consultant. He has delivered training for mediators, training for mediation trainers and worked on developing a post graduate degree course in mediation and peace building for The University of Haiti in conjunction with The University of Lancashire.
Janice Irvine
Janice Irvine
Janice specialises in workplace and commercial mediation, drawing on over 30 years of experience in manufacturing and distribution. She is a HR professional and has held leadership roles including Director, Trustee, Board Member and Company Secretary.
Her practical insight from the steel industry within the UK and Ireland shapes her ability to mediate disputes. Janice focuses on building rapport and creating a calm environment to support resolution. Janice is accredited by the International Mediation Institute.
Claire Power
Claire Power
Claire currently works in the Public Sector and has been an interpersonal mediator practitioner since 2018. Her additional training in Community Studies combined with real life experiences in the Public Sector has given Claire a strong base to offer effective solution-focused mediation.
Being a trained counsellor with a specialism in Solution Focused Therapy (SFBT) ensures Claire works particularly well in resolving workplace conflict. With people as the focus of her mediation, Claire creates an environment which helps with successful mediation and conflict resolution.
