This paper was originally conceived as a submission to a group established to review the administration of civil justice in the Republic of Ireland.1 One objective is to identify means by which to reduce delays in the court system. It is well-recognised that delays affect the disposal of commercial disputes in particular. I suggest that the number of commercial disputes through the courts could be effectively relieved by referring a number to arbitration in parallel with a programme to advertise the power of arbitration, as it should be done, to the wider business community.