This article is from page 12 of the 2006-02-14 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 12 JPG
SENATOR Timmy Dooley (FF) has opened up a constituency office in Ennis just over a year before the current Dáil term expires.
With a Fianna Fáil party convention looming to nominate candidates for next year’s General Election, the 36-year old Mountshannon man has moved to up his profile by opening the office on Ennis’s Carmody Street.
Work was continuing on the fit-out of the office over last weekend before it formally opened yesterday (Monday).
“It is in response to the demand of work really that has considerably increased for me in the Ennis area”, said Senator Dooley.
“Up until now, I would be meeting people in hotels and bars so opening up the office makes things far easier. I have a secretary working in Dublin, but there will now be one working full-time at the Ennis office.”
Asked was the opening in any way connected to his campaign to secure a party nomination to run in next year’s General Election, Senator Dooley said: “No, not at all. That will be decided by delegates, that is their decision.”
Senator Dooley said that he took out the lease on the office last October and was planning not to open the premises until after the planned convention in early January.
“When the convention was postponed, I thought I could not wait any longer due to the inconvenience.”
Asked what kind of response he has been encountering in his campaign to secure a party nomination, Senator Dooley said, “It has been very, very good. I’m very, very happy with it.”
Commenting on the move, Fine Gael TD, Pat Breen said, “Senator Dooley obviously sees himself as a potential candidate for the next election and is seeking political advantage by opening up an office in the county capital.”
Senator Brendan Daly (FF) said: “The opening of the new office by Timmy is to be welcomed as it will provide further services to the public.
“I wonder just how effective constituency offices are. There were three in Ennis before the last general election and the candidate, James Breen, who didn’t have any office, polled 4,000 votes in Ennis.
“The demand for such offices is becoming less and less as the public receives a lot of information from the likes of the Citizen Information Bureau and other voluntary groups.”