FF does need to get rid of problems like Martin, O'Dea and Hanafin. They are complete liabilities. Martin has always been a beta in that he needs to follow a leader rather than lead. The problem is that these people are most associated with FF in the minds of the electorate and the electorate may have a problem of thinking of FF as a party of government. It was this that kept FG out of government for over a decade. Had the property bubble not burst and the rescession not happened, the village idiot Kenny would not have been Taoiseach and FG would still be the opposition. FG under Kenny made a mess of things by bringing in the clown college party (AmateurFF/Labour) when FG should have gone for a majority government when it was achievable. The first FG government was luck. The 2016 GE showed that FG's luck had run out.