Cryptic crossword clue
Victory secured by leader, a terrible old Irish statesman 2,6

The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 2 plus 6 letter word DE VALERA

I've seen this crossword clue in The Times
D
E
V
A
L
E
R
A

Buddy explains!

The straight part
We know that "old Irish statesman" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case old irish statesman = de valera.
The cryptic/wordplay part
In cryptic crossword there's often an wordplay/cryptic part as well.
This part involves a more complex hint, such as an anagram, homophone, hidden word, etc.
Sadly, We don't have an explanation for this specific crossword clue yet.

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