A Sligo-Leitrim general election candidate says he has rebuilt his life since getting a two-year jail sentence for fraud over two decades ago. In 2002, Michael Clarke was convicted of fraud involving a scam in which public money was taken out of the Department of Agriculture.
He was found guilty of conspiring to steal a government pay order worth over 34,000 euro, and two counts of handling government pay orders worth over 64,000 euro in 1997. The Sligo councillor is running for Independent Ireland in the election - he has responded to questions about his conviction:
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He says he regrets his actions:
