Dr Ray Bassett
writer and commentator; author, The Road to Good Friday and Ireland and the EU, Post Brexit; former Irish ambassador; Poynter fellow in Journalism, Yale University

Dr Ray Bassett obtained a PhD in biochemistry from Trinity College Dublin (1979) and worked briefly as a research scientist before joining the Irish Diplomatic Service. He served in Copenhagen, Canberra, London, Belfast (twice) and also as Irish ambassador to Canada, Bahamas and Jamaica. He was part of the Irish Government Talks Team at the Good Friday (Belfast) Agreement and part of the subsequent Implementation Team.

Ray was head of the Ireland Consular Service and also headed the Irish Government’s Division dealing with relations with its overseas diaspora. He retired as assistant secretary-general of the Irish Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (2016) and has since become a pundit on international issues (especially those relating to the EU) on television and radio in Dublin and Belfast. He was a regular column in Ireland’s leading business publication, the Sunday Business Post, where he has challenged the Irish consensus on European Union issues, calling for Ireland to act as a bridge between London and Brussels. Ray was also a senior fellow at Policy Exchange between 2017 and 2024.

Ray is the author of several books, including Ireland and the EU, Post Brexit (2020), The Phoenix Park Way (2022) and The Road to Good Friday, which will be published this year.

Follow Ray on Twitter: @ray_basssett

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