'Fundamental change' needed within FF - Ó Cuív

Former Fianna Fáil minister Éamon Ó Cuív has urged the party's current TDs to "put the party first" and bring about a "fundamental change" in how the party is run.

Speakingon RTÉ's Drivetime, he said: "It's up to the TDs now to put the party first and to move forward from here.

"But it's not as simple as the usual formula, 'let's change the leadership' and so on.

"There needs to be a fundamental change in how the party is operating."

Mr Ó Cuív added: "There was a time that the party were the members, all the members, the 10,000-odd members of the party.

"It now seems to be controlled much more from the top and that is the underlying problem that's causing problems again and again.

"And of course we've seen, electorally, the demise of Fianna Fáil from a party that got between 40% and 50%, to a party know who thinks they've had a brilliant day when they're on 20%."

Mr Ó Cuív questioned why Fianna Fáil, which is the biggest party in the country, needed to look beyond that to find a presidential candidate.

He also said that an important factor for him in which of the remaining two candidates to vote for would be their command of the Irish language.