Basil Glass

Basil Glass
Deputy leader of the Alliance Party of Northern Ireland
In office 1976–1980
Leader	Oliver Napier
Preceded by	Bob Cooper
Succeeded by	David Cook
Member of Belfast City Council
In office 18 May 1977 – 20 May 1981
Preceded by	Patricia Carson
Succeeded by	Donnell Deeny
Constituency	Belfast Area A
Member of the Northern Ireland Constitutional Convention for Belfast South
In office 1975–1976
Preceded by	Convention established
Succeeded by	Convention abolished
Alliance Party Chief whip in the Northern Ireland Assembly
In office 1973–1974
Leader	Oliver Napier
Member of the Northern Ireland Assembly for Belfast South
In office 28 June 1973 – 1974
Preceded by	Assembly created
Succeeded by	Assembly dissolved
Personal details
Born	21 April 1926 County Leitrim, Ireland
Died	30 September 2005
Political party	Alliance (from 1970)
Other political affiliations	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."

Bibliography

• Queens University Belfast: Obituaries
• South Belfast 1973–1984
• "Alliance Founder Basil Glass Dies", Belfast Telegraph