Dessie Ellis

Who is Dessie Ellis?

Dessie Ellis is an Irish politician. He is a Sinn Féin Teachta Dála for the Dublin North–West constituency. He was a member of Dublin City Council from 1999 to 2011.

Ellis was born in Dublin in 1953 and educated there. He later worked as a television repairman. He is a former Provisional IRA prisoner; he was arrested in 1981 and charged with possession of explosives. He jumped bail but was arrested in Buffalo, New York in February 1982 and extradited to Ireland where in April 1983 he was sentenced to ten years' imprisonment in Portlaoise Prison. On 14 November 1990, after thirty-five days on hunger-strike, Ellis became the first person extradited from the Republic of Ireland to the United Kingdom under the 1987 Extradition Act. He went on hunger-strike in protest at efforts to send him to Britain but was extradited in the sixth week of his fast.

Ellis was first elected to Dublin City Council in 1999 for the Finglas area. He unsuccessfully contested the 2002 general election in the Dublin North–West constituency, and received 4,781 first preference votes. He was again unsuccessful at the 2007 general election in the same constituency, receiving 4,873 votes.