Desmond Ellis (born 23 September 1953) is an Irish Sinn Féin politician who has been a Teachta Dála (TD) for the Dublin North-West constituency since the 2011 general election.

In 1983 Ellis was found guilty of possessing materials used to make explosive devices for the IRA and was sentenced to 10 years imprisonment by an Irish court.

[3] He jumped bail, but was arrested in Buffalo, New York in February 1982 and extradited to the Republic of Ireland,[3] where in April 1983, he was sentenced to ten years' imprisonment in Portlaoise Prison.

[8] He unsuccessfully contested the 2002 general election in the Dublin North-West constituency, and received 4,781 first preference votes (18.3%).

Based on this, Philip Ryan of the Irish Independent accused Ellis of admitting that the PIRA ran "Kangaroo courts".

[9] In 2015, Ellis refused to comment on if Sinn Féin leader Gerry Adams should distance himself from Thomas 'Slab' Murphy, an Irish republican found guilty of tax fraud and an allegedly a former PIRA Chief of Staff.

[13][14] In December 2016, during a session of the Dáil, Ellis and his fellow Sinn Féin TD Martin Ferris were accused by Fine Gael TD Alan Farrell of having information in relation to the Shooting of Brian Stack, the chief prison officer at Portlaoise Prison, in 1983.

Ferris followed Ellis, and stated "On the record of this house; In 2013 I met with gardaí at their request regarding the death of Brian Stack, I co-operated fully with them and I have nothing to answer for, and it's a disgrace what you have come in here naming.

He was criticised for joining his supporters singing Come Out, Ye Black and Tans at the count, but he dismissed the suggestion it was inappropriate.

Following a prolonged hunger strike in the 1990s to protest his extradition to Britain, Dessie successfully beat these trumped-up charges in court.

Dessie Ellis has made no secret of his involvement in the republican struggle over many decades, including within the ranks of the IRA.

[21][22][23][24] Ellis is proficient in karate, holding a black belt, and teaches martial arts to young people.