I received the following in an email from James Bacon earlier today. I am delighted that the matter is now settled and am very grateful to James for his work in bringing the two sides together. In view of the wishes of both sides that the matter end here I have closed comments on this post, and on the two earlier posts about this subject.

Joint release from Octocon and Pádraig Ó Mealoid

To whom it may concern:

Following some mediation and frank communication Octocon and Pádraig have resolved their issues thus:

Nichola Hannigan, Co- Chair of Octocon, recognised that the banning of Pádraig may not have been the best way to deal with the situation they faced.

The committee regrets that better wording was not used in the communication of Pádraig’s ban and realises that the closing of communication lines was an error.

Pádraig recognised that online and other criticism should be tempered and that his enthusiasm for SF activities may be perceived as aggressive. He is sorry that he upset or hurt anyone, and regrets that he did not communicate his criticisms more appropriately.

Both parties regret that previous private communication opportunities were missed.

Given this understanding between parties, Octocon have rescinded the Ban on Pádraig.

The Octocon committee will continue to welcome criticism in a measured manner and try to deal with it as best they can. They make it their duty to continue to deal promptly with queries which are submitted in the normal way.

The committee are considering setting up an online public forum, which may be a better way for people to raise and discuss queries.

Pádraig understands all con committees are free to run their own convention.

Octocon understand that con members may have expectations.

On behalf of Octocon, Nichola has apologised to Pádraig. Pádraig unreservedly accepted this and has apologised to the committee for his part in these events.

Both parties wish to draw a line under this now. No further discussion online or in person will be entered into in this matter by either party, as both parties want to move on and put this whole matter behind them.

Both parties request that everyone else who was affected by or had interest in this dispute also move on and look forward to positive future events.

Padraig and The Octocon committee would like to thank James Bacon for his timely intervention and are grateful for his mediation in this matter.

Signed

Nichola Hannigan and the Octocon Committee

Pádraig Ó Méalóid