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

The Irish Border and the Principle of Consent

The Irish Border and the Principle of Consent

by | Nov 1, 2018

Read Publication It is the EU’s Brexit position which most threatens the terms of the Good Friday Agreement. In a new research note with a Foreword by Rt Hon Lord Trimble, The Irish border and the principle of consent, Dr Graham Gudgin, Policy Exchange’s Chief...
Getting Over the Line: Solutions to the Irish border

Getting Over the Line: Solutions to the Irish border

by | 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?

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,...