
Ray Bassett
Senior Fellow on EU Affairs
Ray Bassett is Dublin born. He was educated at The O’Connell School and Trinity College, Dublin. He obtained a Ph.D. in Biochemistry from Trinity. He specialised in the study of the vitamin Folic Acid. He changed career from clinical biochemistry to the Irish Diplomatic Service, serving in Belfast, London, Canberra, Copenhagen and Ottawa. Bassett was part of the Irish Government Talks Team during the Belfast (Good Friday) Agreement negotiations. He went on to serve as Irish Joint Secretary to the British Irish Intergovernmental Conference in Belfast, 2001-2005. He subsequently headed up the Irish Consular Service and the Irish Abroad Unit, which deals with relations with the Irish Diaspora. He spent his last six years in the Diplomatic Service as Irish Ambassador to Canada, Jamaica and the Bahamas. Since his retirement in October 2016, he has become a columnist with the Sunday Business Post.

Related Posts & Publications


Getting Over the Line: Solutions to the Irish border
by Ray Bassett | May 9, 2018
Read Publication The Irish border is not the insoluble obstacle to Brexit negotiations that it has been made out to be and the UK can leave the single market and customs union while preserving a frictionless border in Ireland. This can be achieved by the use of new...
After Brexit: Will Ireland be next to exit?
by Ray Bassett | Jul 3, 2017
Read Publication The position of Ireland in the Brexit negotiations has been one of the three lead issues in the talks between David Davis, the Brexit Secretary and Michel Barnier, the EU’s chief negotiator. Ireland is the EU country most politically, historically,...
Don’t listen to the doom-mongers – why the UK (including Northern Ireland) can leave the Customs Union, avoid a hard border and preserve the Good Friday Agreement
by Ray Bassett | Apr 26, 2018
In the last few months, the issue of the Irish border has been used and abused by those who see it as the best last hope to frustrate Brexit. Yet very few of those who have expressed grave concern over the matter have spent much time familiarising themselves with the...
Time for political game-playing over the Irish border to stop
by Ray Bassett | Mar 20, 2018
As the business end of Brexit negotiations begin, the unique nature of the Republic of Ireland’s relationship with the UK will increasingly come into play. The Irish border has become a huge issue in Brexit negotiations, with some hoping that it might be the...Support Us
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