The Liberal published this article challenging the Freemasons Hall to give their fee back if they felt so bad about Conor McGregor’s incredible interview with Tucker Carlon.
And it appears as though they’ve bent to the pressure.
The Freemasons of Ireland have announced they will donate the fee they received for hosting an interview between Conor McGregor and Tucker Carlson to a charitable cause, reports RTE.
Philip Daley, Grand Secretary of the Grand Lodge of Freemasons of Ireland, admitted it was a “mistake” to permit the interview at the Freemasons’ Hall located on Molesworth Street in Dublin.
Speaking to RTÉ’s This Week, Mr Daley explained that new protocols have now been implemented to prevent a similar situation from happening again, reports RTE.
While the venue was hired last week by a U.S. media company, the Freemasons claimed they were unaware of who would be involved until “the last minute”.
Mr Daley noted that while they frequently rent their premises to media companies, they “always insist on knowing before it takes place, who the interviewer and interviewee are, and what the content is to make sure that it sits with our organisation’s morals and principles”, reports RTE.
In this instance, however, he said those details only came through “at the last moment”, roughly an hour before the interview began.
“When it came to my attention, I then debated with some of my colleagues. Would we cancel it or would we let it go ahead? And we decided in our wisdom that we just let it go,” Mr Daley said, reports RTE.
When asked why the interview was allowed to proceed, he explained that assurances were given by the media company that all visible backgrounds would be blurred and the Freemasons’ Hall would not be mentioned, reports RTE.
Mr Daley added they also feared “a backlash of some description” if the interview was suddenly cancelled.
“In hindsight we’re not happy with that decision, I mean, look, we made a mistake, put my hands up, fully admit that,” reports RTE.
He made it clear that had they known who was involved from the beginning, the Freemasons would not have accepted the booking.
“I would not be a fan of Mr McGregor under any circumstances,” he said, reports RTE.
Mr Daley stated the fee received, estimated between €1,000 and €2,000, will now be donated to a worthy charity.
Asked which charity would benefit, he said the board of directors managing the Freemasons’ Hall will decide.
He also confirmed that from now on, no media booking will be allowed unless complete details are provided upfront.
“It will not be let drift,” he said, reports RTE.
During the hour-long interview, Mr McGregor made several statements on immigration, An Garda SÃochána, government expenditure, and the Dublin riots.
He also shared his thoughts on Donald Trump’s presidency and his own interest in running for President of Ireland, reports RTE.
Since airing on Friday night, the interview has garnered over a million views on YouTube and just as many across other social media platforms.
If the Freemason’s Hall in Dublin feel so bad about hosting Conor McGregor’s interview, they should return the fee which could be donated to Catholic charities.@TheNotoriousMMA @TuckerCarlson https://t.co/Pt2iIVx1pm
— TheLiberal.ie (@TheLiberal_ie) April 19, 2025
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