Mayo TD not ruling out a return to county's GAA fold
Alan Dillon, the voice of a new political generation
by Aoibhinn McDonagh
ALAN Dillon wants to see young people using their voices and being part of the discussion on issues that impact their lives.
“Young people are the future leaders and they need to be consulted about issues of real importance,” he says.
As a younger man Dillon was a leader on the sports field as Mayo senior football captain. The skillset required there - resilience, determination, commitment - are serving him well as a Fine Gael TD.
Dillon retired from inter-county football in 2017 and in 2020 “a time and an opportunity presented itself."
With Enda Kenny stepping down, Fine Gael were looking for a new candidate. Dillon’s aunt had worked closely with Kenny and this helped draw Alan to Fine Gael.
He spoke about how much he admired Enda Kenny and the pressure he felt to secure the seat that had been held for the past 45 years.
“I've always represented my county, be it in football, be it in other areas, and I understand the importance that has for people in Mayo.
“Anyone that puts themselves up for public life needs to be brave, you need to have courage.
“I think there's nothing more honourable than putting your name on a ballot paper because there's no hiding place and you're asking people to put their trust in you.”
Dillon is very passionate about the people of Mayo and tries to advocate for continued investment in Mayo whenever and wherever he can. He is particularly passionate about young people, ensuring their voices are heard and doing what he can to solve their issues.
He said: “I think it's really important that the issues and the concerns that affect young people, be it students, young couples, first time parents, those who are looking for home ownership, those who are caught in a rental crisis, that we can formulate solutions to address their concerns.
“As a public representative you’re there to serve the people who elect you into this privileged position and I think it's really important that those who represent you represent you with integrity, determination, courage and they're not afraid to speak their mind.”
YOUNG PEOPLE
Alan is very aware about the lack of young people in politics and his advice to young people is to always have a voice.
“I think it's so important that young people have a seat at any discussions or at any table when decisions that may impact their lives are made. Young people are the future leaders and they need to be consulted about issues of real importance.”
He commended young people on how they have been a driving force in the climate action movement and says that although the government has made steps in addressing climate change through the climate action plan, globally the real concerns have not been addressed.
Dillon makes an effort to visit as many secondary schools as he can to have discussions with the students and says that he believes social media can be really powerful for connecting with young people.
“If our political leaders aren’t listening to young people than we are certainly not best informed of the challenges that impact them.”
He understands that although many young people might think of politics as boring, there are a lot of areas you can branch off into through politics.
He believes the newly added Leaving Certificate subject politics and society will be good for expanding students' appreciation of politics and should help build on the skills that they already learn about being better leaders in their communities through youth organisations.
While talking about if it would have been easier for him to transition to national government having been a local councillor first, Dillon says that although he doesn’t feel it’s a real disadvantage not having the experience at local level, 'possibly it may have been easier to understand the complexities of local government before transitioning into the national parliament'.
He says that his past life experiences in his education and work are what really complement what he does now.
He added: “We are very lucky here in Mayo that we have excellent councillors.” He has received 'great support' from councillors and tries to engage with Mayo County Council management and officers as much as possible.
REWARDS AND RESPONSIBILITIES
Dillon says that although being a TD comes with big responsibilities and can be challenging, being able to make an impact on people’s lives is what makes it so rewarding.
“I think for anyone in public life it'll be challenging because it is a 24-hour job, 365 days of the year, that you are there to serve the people and you can never underestimate the value that can have on people's lives.
“The impact you can have in representing people, their concerns, their issues, their challenges, it's very rewarding from that point of view. You can solve a problem that has been impacting their quality of life.”
Dillon is very aware of his responsibilities as a representative: “When we speak in Dáil Éireann, we speak on behalf of the people who have put us into that position and I don’t think you can ever undervalue the importance of when you speak on their behalf.”
Reflecting on his difficult start to politics with Covid, the coalition, the war in Ukraine, cost of living crisis, inflation and the war in the Middle East, Dillon highlights that although it’s been challenging and not ‘everyday politics’, “I’ve learned a huge amount in my short time.”
SPORT AND POLITICS
Asked about who on the Mayo team would make a good future politician, Dillon was non-committal.
He says a lot of Mayo players, both past and present, would make good politicians but he unfortunately would not give any names. “I could give someone the confidence to run against me!”
He says that he has played with a lot of leaders who would make great politicians and that family and other commitments can make it difficult. He once more reflected on how lucky he was for the opportunity that presented itself to him and that sometimes the chance just doesn’t appear.
He believes a lot of the skills, traits and characteristics of sports people can transfer to politics.
“Resilience, determination, commitment, discipline, courage are really important for any political leader or someone who wants to be a public representative and serve the people.
“You do get knocked, you do have to get up and dust yourself down and go again and you won't get everything right. You have to learn from mistakes, accept criticism and understand why you're doing it and I think that’s really important.”
Dillon reflected on his time playing for Mayo: “My first love was always sport and always the red and green. We can’t go back in time now but if I did have an All-Ireland medal, I think the whole county would still be celebrating.”
A return to involvement with the Mayo set-up sometime in the future is certainly on the cards.
Dillon says that although it is time consuming being a public representative and having a young family, “In the future, getting back involved with Mayo teams would be something I certainly would be interested in doing.”
In the coming months he will be working to retain his seat, but he admits it will be a difficult election with Sinn Féin’s current strong standing in the polls. With south Mayo being brought back into the constituency, we have now moved from four to five seats and Dillon says he is glad that the county will now have an extra voice in the Dáil.
“My focus now is to try and do the job to the best of my ability, try and advocate to bring jobs into the county, bring investment into the county, continue to support communities and be that advocate in the Dáil. Hopefully improving the quality of life for people across all ages.”
(Aoibhinn McDonagh is a transition year student at St. Louis Community School, Kiltimagh, who has been on work experience with The Connaught Telegraph)