Basil Glass Explained

Basil Glass
Office:Deputy leader of the Alliance Party of Northern Ireland
Leader:Oliver Napier
Term Start:1976
Term End:1980
Predecessor:Bob Cooper
Successor:David Cook
Office2:Member of
Belfast City Council
Constituency2:Belfast Area A
Term Start2:18 May 1977
Term End2:20 May 1981
Predecessor2:Patricia Carson
Successor2:Donnell Deeny
Office3:Member of the
Northern Ireland Constitutional Convention
for Belfast South
Term Start3:1975
Term End3:1976
Predecessor3:Convention established
Successor3:Convention abolished
Office4:Alliance Party Chief whip
in the Northern Ireland Assembly
Leader4:Oliver Napier
Term Start4:1973
Term End4:1974
Office5:Member of the Northern Ireland Assembly
for Belfast South
Term Start5:28 June 1973
Term End5:1974
Predecessor5:Assembly created
Successor5:Assembly dissolved
Birth Date:21 April 1926
Birth Place:County Leitrim, Ireland
Death Date:30 September 2005
Party:Alliance (from 1970)
Otherparty:New Ulster Movement (1969-1970)

Basil Glass (21 April 1926 – 30 September 2005) was a Northern Irish solicitor and politician.

Background

Born in County Leitrim, Glass studied at Queen's University Belfast; he qualified as a solicitor in 1950 and became a prominent lawyer. He was elected joint treasurer of the New Ulster Movement, with fellow solicitor Oliver Napier, in 1969. The following year, he became the first Chairman of the Alliance Party of Northern Ireland.

In 1973, Glass became the President of the Alliance Party, and he was elected to the Northern Ireland Assembly for South Belfast, acting as the party's chief whip in the Assembly. At the October 1974 general election he stood for the Westminster seat of South Belfast, taking second position and almost one quarter of the vote.

Glass was again elected to represent South Belfast on the Northern Ireland Constitutional Convention in 1975. In 1976, he became the Alliance Party's deputy leader. In 1977 he was elected to Belfast City Council, a post he held for four years. At the 1979 general election, he slightly improved his performance for the Westminster seat.

Glass narrowly failed to be elected to the Northern Ireland Assembly, 1982, and thereafter scaled back his political activities. In 1987, he was appointed to the post of High Court Bankruptcy Master in Northern Ireland.

He was described by John Wilson QC, Clerk of the Crown for Northern Ireland, as "a gentleman and a scholar."[1]

Bibliography

Notes and References

  1. http://www.lawsoc-ni.org/download/05/WritNov05.pdf Law Soc. N.I., newsletter Nov/Dec 2005