Éire / Ireland

Mr Daley said the Freemasons regularly take bookings from media organisations for the use of their premises, but "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". However, in this case, he said they only received that information "at the last moment", about an hour before the interview was conducted. "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. Asked why he decided to allow the interview to proceed, he said it was because they got an assurance from the media company that all of the backgrounds would be blurred and that there would be no reference to the Freemasons' Hall.