Grand Master’s Address to Grand Lodge on St. John’s Day 27th December 2012

The October Communication of Grand Lodge was held in the premises of the Manor House Hotel, Enniskillen and proved to be a most suitable venue where we had ample accommodation to house our numbers and adequate space to carry out our ritual, with thanks to the management of the premises.

The situation was most glorious to behold where we enjoyed the most beautiful scenery around the lakes and the breath-taking expanse of the total area.

The Killyhevlin Hotel was unavailable as they had a pre-booking on the same date as our meeting and we had to give way to that organisation.

The ‘Irish Freemasons Young Musician of the year 2012’ proved to be a major success with the adjudication of the Finalists being held in Freemasons’ Hall on Saturday October 13th. This year was the third year of the Competition and it is gaining status year by year. The Competition was won by Julian Pusca playing the pan-flute and we were delighted to welcome the Deputy Lord Mayor of Dublin, the Minister for the Arts, the Pro-Chancellor of Trinity and the Ambassador of Romania amongst many other distinguished guests. The Competition was in 13 newspapers and interviews broadcast on 33 radio stations. The final was also broadcast in full by RTÉ lyric fm and I am very enthusiastic about the competition which is growing each year.

The production and administration of the Competition involves a huge amount of voluntary work by the staff here in Grand Lodge, the team from Events G.L.I. and members of the Metropolitan Lodges. I am very grateful to them for all the work they put into making the competition the public success that it was. I am sure you would also like to express your appreciation.  

On the 22nd October the Grand Secretary and I met in Dublin in order to raise our respective Visas from the Nigerian Embassy which was successfully achieved. My passport identifies me as a UK Citizen but due to the pressure of time I was accredited as an Irish citizen in order to expedite my Visa. Seems to me that I can now boast Dual Nationality?

On arriving in Nigeria we were totally spoiled from arrival to departure during which the Grand Master Mason of Scotland constituted the new Grand Lodge and I installed the first Grand Master, whose credentials are pristine. He will undoubtedly prove to be the natural person to lead as he has a high ranking in many quarters of the Nigerian Society.

The Grand Secretary and I were delighted to learn, on our departure, that the Grand Lodge of Nigeria had met our business class travel and hotel costs during our stay. Exceedingly most generous of the new Grand Master of Nigeria.

On 16th November I accepted an invitation to Queen’s University Lodge No. 533, which was most enjoyable and at which I was impressed by the number of Lodge members who attended and the chosen venue.

On 23rd November I visited the Grand Lodge of Malta on my own, as the Grand Secretary’s wife was rather unwell so he did not travel. Once again, I was treated very well and was impressed by the ritual, even though it was English working, which was quite interesting.

The spirit of the Lodge members is very good although they have a few problems to sort out just as some of our Lodges have to face at home.

I attended Mourne Lodge No.823 Strabane on the occasion of its 50 years of existence and I had a wonderful time with the Brethren.  On the 20th December I presented three service jewels to members of Ballymoney Lodge No. 330 and very much enjoyed my visit..

My last function for 2012 is this meeting of Grand Lodge where we have installed and confered new titles to the existing officers and thank those who are completing their spell in office.

I hope that 2013 will bring peace and comfort to all and may good health and happiness surround us.  

God Bless you all.

M.W. Bro. George Dunlop
Grand Master