Alan Dillon (born 28 September 1982) is an Irish

Fine Gael Fine Gael (, ; English: "Family (or Tribe) of the Irish") is a liberal-conservative and Christian-democratic political party in Ireland. Fine Gael is currently the third-largest party in the Republic of Ireland in terms of members of Dáil � ...

politician who has been a

Teachta Dála A Teachta Dála ( , ; plural ), abbreviated as TD (plural ''TDanna'' in Irish, TDs in English), is a member of Dáil Éireann, the lower house of the Oireachtas (the Irish Parliament). It is the equivalent of terms such as ''Member of Parli ...

(TD) for the

Mayo Mayo often refers to: * Mayonnaise, often shortened to "mayo" * Mayo Clinic, a medical center in Rochester, Minnesota, United States Mayo may also refer to: Places Antarctica * Mayo Peak, Marie Byrd Land Australia * Division of Mayo, an Aust ...

constituency since the

2020 general election The following elections were scheduled to occur in 2020. The International Foundation for Electoral Systems maintains a comprehensive list of upcoming elections on its E-Guide Platform. The National Democratic Institute also maintains a calend ...

. Prior to entering politics, he was a two-time All Star winning

Gaelic football Gaelic football ( ga, Peil Ghaelach; short name '), commonly known as simply Gaelic, GAA or Football is an Irish team sport. It is played between two teams of 15 players on a rectangular grass pitch. The objective of the sport is to score by kic ...

er who captained the senior Mayo county team.

Personal life

He is married to Ashling, and they have two sons. Dillon has participated in a marketing campaign for

Ireland West Airport Knock Ireland West Airport ( ga, Aerfort Iarthar Éireann Mhuire), officially known as Ireland West Airport Knock ( ga, Aerfort Iarthar Éireann Chnoc Mhuire), is an international airport south-west of Charlestown, County Mayo, Ireland. The vi ...

. Dillon attended Davitt College in Castlebar for his Secondary school education. He studied at

NUI Galway The University of Galway ( ga, Ollscoil na Gaillimhe) is a public research university located in the city of Galway, Ireland. A tertiary education and research institution, the university was awarded the full five QS stars for excellence in 201 ...

, and played for the university football team. Dillon has a

MSc MSC may refer to: Computers * Message Sequence Chart * Microelectronics Support Centre of UK Rutherford Appleton Laboratory * MIDI Show Control * MSC Malaysia (formerly known as Multimedia Super Corridor) * USB mass storage device class (USB MSC ...

in Pharmaceutical Science from the Royal College of Surgeons Ireland, a Postgraduate Diploma in Education from

, and a

BSc A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University of ...

in Applied Mathematics and Biology from

Maynooth University The National University of Ireland, Maynooth (NUIM; ga, Ollscoil na hÉireann Mhá Nuad), commonly known as Maynooth University (MU), is a constituent university of the National University of Ireland in Maynooth, County Kildare, Ireland. It ...

Gaelic football career

He played football with his local club

Ballintubber Ballintubber, officially Ballintober (), is a village in County Mayo, Ireland, known for Ballintubber Abbey which was founded in 1216. The countryside of Ballintubber is set against the against the backdrop of the Partry Mountains. History Th ...

County Mayo County Mayo (; ga, Contae Mhaigh Eo, meaning "Plain of the Taxus baccata, yew trees") is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. In the West Region, Ireland, West of Ireland, in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Conn ...

and was a pivotal member of the senior Mayo county team from 2003 until his retirement in 2017, playing in six All-Ireland finals. His fine-tuned skill, his sharp roving eye and his clever reading of the game all contribute to his exceptional footballing abilities. Dillon won his first All Star award in 2006 and a second All Star award in 2012. On 28 November 2017, Dillon announced his retirement from inter-county football.

Political career

Following his retirement from inter-county football in 2017, there was much speculation that Dillon would replace former

Taoiseach The Taoiseach is the head of government, or prime minister, of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. The office is appointed by the president of Ireland upon the nomination of Dáil Éireann (the lower house of the Oireachtas, Ireland's national legisl ...

Enda Kenny Enda Kenny (born 24 April 1951) is an Irish former Fine Gael politician who served as Taoiseach from 2011 to 2017, Leader of Fine Gael from 2002 to 2017, Minister for Defence from May to July 2014 and 2016 to 2017, Leader of the Opposition from ...

as a

candidate for Mayo. He has numerous links to Fine Gael, an aunt having been Enda Kenny's Castlebar secretary and her husband being Kenny's driver and a county councillor. In 2020, he successfully stood as a Fine Gael candidate for the

in the Mayo constituency. In July 2020, Dillon was elected as the secretary of the Fine Gael parliamentary party, following its AGM in the Convention Centre Dublin.

References

External links

*
Alan Dillon's page on Fine Gael website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dillon, Alan 1982 births Living people Alumni of the University of Galway Alumni of Maynooth University Alumni of the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland Ballintubber Gaelic footballers Fine Gael TDs Gaelic football forwards Irish sportsperson-politicians Mayo inter-county Gaelic footballers Members of the 33rd Dáil University of Galway Gaelic footballers People from Castlebar Politicians from County Mayo