French day centre’s abandoned by Order of the Republic? (4)
I believe the answer is:
jedi
'order of the republic?' is the definition.
(order of the Jedi in Star Wars films)
'french day centre's abandoned' is the wordplay.
'french day' becomes 'jeudi' (French word for Thursday).
'centre's abandoned' suggests removing the centre.
'jeudi' with its centre removed is 'JEDI'.
'by' acts as a link.
(Other definitions for jedi that I've seen before include "Star Wars knight" , "Film: 'Return of the --'" , "Star Wars warrior" , "Forceful knight" , "Legendary crimebusters" .)