The Law Society team of Aoife O’Carroll, Eoin Doyle and Clíodhna McHugh defeated a team from Germany’s University of Marburg during the final mediation session in Paris.

The final, held in the historical Émile Boutmy Lecture Hall of Sciences Po University, saw student teams face a mock mediation problem featuring damaged trams. It was written by professor Greg Bond, mediator at bond & bond, and mediated by independent Hong Kong mediator Jody Sin.

This year marked the first time an Irish team has made it to the final. In total, 46 teams from 31 countries took part.

Commenting on the win, Ms O’Carroll said: “We are very happy and proud of our win. We entered the competition with zero expectations as we had never participated in a mediation session before.

“The competition was a learning curve for us, I think one can see the progress we have made if you compare our first session to the one today. During each round, we learned from gaining experience, but also from seeing the other teams perform.

“The Mediation Competition is so international and it was interesting to get to know the angles from other cultures. I think I can speak for the three of us that this week has planted a seed of passion for mediation inside us and we will certainly further look into it. More than ever, we believe mediation is the future.”

Mediation professional Kimberly Schreiber, who was one of the five judges, said: “2024 was again a fantastic edition. I have been here so many times now and I am still amazed by the level of excellence and the huge amount of preparation by the students.

“This is the biggest mediation competition of the year and I believe we are shaping future mediation leaders here today.

“The final was very enjoyable and realistic. It was a tight decision, in some aspects, one team was a bit better, but in other aspects the other team was. In the end, I think Ireland deserves the win.”