State directive emptied Irish county (7)
I believe the answer is:
declare
'state' is the definition.
(declaring is a kind of stating)
'directive emptied irish county' is the wordplay.
'emptied' suggests removing the centre.
'irish county' becomes 'clare' (I've seen this in another clue).
'directive' with its middle taken out is 'de'.
'de'+'clare'='DECLARE'
(Other definitions for declare that I've seen before include "say" , "State emphatically" , "... cut short innings" , "Announce formally" , "Make clearly known" .)