Basil Glass

Basil Glass (21 April 1926 – 30 September 2005) was a politician in Northern Ireland.

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 UK 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 UK 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 High Court bench.

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

References

↑ Law Soc. N.I., newsletter Nov/Dec 2005

Bibliography

Party political offices
Preceded by Bob Cooper	Deputy Leader of the Alliance Party of Northern Ireland 1976–80	Succeeded by David Cook

Alliance Party of Northern Ireland

Leadership

Leaders	Oliver Napier & Bob Cooper (1970–1972) Phelim O'Neill (1972, acting) Oliver Napier (1973–1984) John Cushnahan (1984–1987) John Alderdice (1987–1998) Séan Neeson (1998–2001) David Ford (2001–present)

Deputy Leaders	Bob Cooper (1974–1976) Basil Glass (1976–1980) David Cook (1980–1984) Addie Morrow (1984–1987) Gordon Mawhinney (1987–1991) Seamus Close (1991–2001) Eileen Bell (2001–2006) Naomi Long (2006–present)

General Secretaries	Grace Wilson (1970–1972) Bob Cooper (1972–1974) John Cushnahan (1974–1982) Eileen Bell (1986–1990) David Ford (1990–1998) Richard Good (1998–2000) Stephen Farry (2000–2007) Stephen Douglas (2010–2011) Sharon Lowry (2011-present)

Elected representatives

Members of the Northern Ireland Assembly	Judith Cochrane Stewart Dickson Stephen Farry David Ford Anna Lo Trevor Lunn Chris Lyttle Kieran McCarthy Sean Neeson

Members of the UK Parliament	Naomi Long

History

History and related organisations	New Ulster Movement Ulster Liberal Party Northern Ireland Liberal Democrats Young Alliance

Other topics	Election results

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