As one story in politics begins another one ends - on Wednesday newly elected Fine Gael TD Alan Dillon was busy getting used to his new role in his office in Castlebar, when a near neighbour from up the street and the person he was replacing, stuck his head in the door to offer some advice. Retaining the seat held by Enda Kenny in Castlebar was the aim for the Fine Gael party and Dillon delivered on that, taking the fourth and final seat in the county.
As for how it all feels now that the election is done, keeping the trust put in him by the voters is what Dillon wants to do, he told the Mayo Advertiser, saying: "Earning the trust of the Mayo electorate is a huge honour and privilege and one I certainly won't take for granted. The last three and a half weeks have been a roller coaster in terms of emotion, physically and mentally. Last Sunday night just goes to show what hard work and dedication can get you."
The foundation of his victory came from winning the boxes in Castlebar and that was down to the hard work of those out on the ground every evening canvassing for him, he said: "It was something we were very focused on in retaining the seat for Fine Gael here in Castlebar, the message was on point that Fine Gael had a seat here in the town and as a new candidate, the people got behind me and supported me, it was important to top the poll in the Castlebar area in order to get over the line. We worked hard on it and had good strong teams out canvassing the area in the town and around it.
"Every evening we had 20 to 30 odd people in the office setting out on a canvas; the evenings were short, you didn't want to be calling to people too late on - we had people leaving work going straight out knocking on doors and I went to as many places as I could. I think people like that they could meet the candidate themselves in as many places as possible so I could personally ask them to support me. That set the foundation for us getting a good core vote and from there we got a good sprinkle all over the county, which was important."
Having the advice of a person of such experience as the former Taoiseach was a massive help to Dillon in the build-up to the election, he said: "He has been fantastic for the past few weeks, he was always there in the background when I put my name forward and now as I go on and learn, having his shoulder to lean on; if there is stuff I need to take advice on or to go with it is fantastic to have one of the most experienced statesmen in the country to offer that to me."
The final seats in Mayo came down to the transfers from other candidates and getting those second and third choice votes were vital and people were willing to give him a chance as a new candidate, Dillon believes: "I think that is something, that all new candidates bring a new voice, a freshness, and even if they didn't give me a number one, I got number twos off people, which all proved to be very important at the end of the day.
"I have to say people were very responsive - in knowing that I know the challenges that people of my generation face and that I understood them, but now it is about working hard and building on the work I have done so far and working for the people of all different parties and views in the county. The office here will be open to all and I want to be able to listen to everyone and work for the betterment of all the people of Mayo - that will be my policy of working with every community organisation and person on the ground to represent them.
"It's a new journey now, it's all about ensuring that I have a good team around me - starting with the office being open here for people to come in. Politics is local in everything we do and I will be putting the infrastructure in place to ensure it is there for the people to come to me, Fine Gael have three good councillors here on the ground in Castlebar too and will work with councillors from all over."
