21 October 1999 Edition

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Call for Sligo/Leitrim TD to come clean

Sinn Féin's Deputy Mayor of Sligo, Seán MacManus, has called on Fianna Fáil TD John Ellis, to make a full and frank personal statement to the Dáil regarding recent revelations about his financial affairs - the clearing of his debts by the National Irish Bank and further allegations that members of his party paid other debts.

MacManus said that ``the revelations relating to the financial affairs of the TD have caused considerable disquiet among the public in the Sligo/Leitrim area. As a political representative for the people of both counties, the public are entitled to know whether there has been any wrongdoing in any of Deputy Ellis's dealings and they are entitled to know the all the facts. If he has nothing to hide about his actions, then he should have no problem in disclosing the facts to the Dáil.''

MacManus added that there was ``a lot of anger'' among small farmers in the north west who are still owed large sums of money from Stanlow Trading, a meat factory run by the TD and his two brothers. ``They are extremely annoyed that Deputy Ellis has his debts cleared, while no such efforts were made to recompense them for what they continued to be owed,'' said MacManus.

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