Alan Dillon is set to open a county town constituency office

ALAN Dillon is proving correct the estimation of his former county teammate, Aidan O'Shea, that he's 'a determined dude'.

In colloquial terms, he's certainly going to give it 'a right lash' in his bid for Dáil Éireann.

Since he secured a Fine Gael nomination earlier this year, the Ballintubber man has been intensely active.

Although there's little sign of an election just yet, he's a familiar face at functions and meetings on community issues throughout the constituency.

That's time consuming when piled on to his workload with his employer, Allergan Pharmaceuticals, and his footballing commitments with Ballintubber.

On Friday next, Alan, fresh from his county final success with Ballintubber. will open a constituency office in the building at the corner of Linenhall Street and Newantrim Street.

It's a landmark structure in the heart of old Castlebar, easily accessed and highly visible.

At one stage, former Taoiseach Enda Kenny used it for promotional purposes.

In the early days, the building served as a base for Castlebar Community Radio, CRC fm.

In a further, more important move, Alan Dillon has recruited Ger Deere as a campaign manager and strategist.

A notably hard grafter with his finger on the pulse of community issues, Mr. Deere worked for Enda Kenny during his term as Taoiseach.

His experience will surely stand Alan Dillon in good stead in the testing and busy months which lie ahead in the countdown to a general election.

By the way, Alan Dillon's constituency office will have what he describes himself as 'a soft opening' - on Friday next.

An official launch, performed by a government minister, is planned for a later date.