Crossword Genius

State emphatically cleared out disreputable Irish county (7)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

declare

'state emphatically' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)

'cleared out disreputable irish county' is the wordplay.
'cleared out' suggests removing the centre.
'irish county' becomes 'clare'.
'disreputable' with its centre taken out is 'de'.
'de'+'clare'='DECLARE'

(Other definitions for declare that I've seen before include "Make a statement, to customs perhaps" , "Aver, state" , "Make clearly known" , "State clearly, announce officially" , "Announce formally" .)

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