He goes out with Irene (5)

I believe the answer is:

ernie

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'he' is the definition.

'goes out with irene' is the wordplay.
'irene' anagrams to 'ERNIE'.
Though, I'm not sure how this is indicated.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for ernie that I've seen before include "Eric Morecambe & - - Wise" , "___ Wise, d. 1999" , "Els, for example" , "Guy" , "Name given to selector" .)

I've seen this clue in The Globe and Mail.

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