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.

Ray Bassett

Related Posts & Publications

Perspectives on the Irish Border and Brexit negotiations

Perspectives on the Irish Border and Brexit negotiations

by | Dec 10, 2017

A British perspective Last Monday’s Progress Agreement has been applauded by most people, including prominent Brexiteers, as a classic application of ambiguity to moving past the Brussels roadblock. As proof of the ambiguity even the Dublin media, normally united on...
No Threat to the Common Travel Area from the UK

No Threat to the Common Travel Area from the UK

by | Oct 15, 2017

While the focus on Irish matters in the Brexit negotiations has been on future border arrangements between the Republic and Northern Ireland, the implications for the Common Travel Area (CTA) are starting to get more attention.   The issue has been raised, in...
After Brexit: Will Ireland be next to exit?

After Brexit: Will Ireland be next to exit?

by | 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,...
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