However insensitive and ill–informed he may have been at the outset, Sussex's appreciation of the complexities of Irish government deepened and matured in time. As early as 1557 his understanding of what needed to be done in Ireland had broadened considerably and he was busy badgering Queen Mary to approve a general plan for the reordering of the realm through a revival of surrender and regrant and the establishment of a number of colonial settlements. By 1560 he was able to present Queen Elizabeth with detailed recommendations for Irish reform based upon a shrewd analysis of the strength and ubiquity of faction. The Butlers and the Geraldines, he now realised, exercised sway over all parts of the land; there were few local powers who were not aligned in some way with either group. But within this web of faction and the conspiracy of lawlessness which sustained it, Sussex could detect some rays of hope. There existed within both camps a number of subordinate powers who had already demonstrated their dissatisfaction with the system and were ready to embrace the laws and governance of the crown in return for a recognition and defence of their independence of the great lords. The effect of their desertion, Sussex was certain, would be cumulative; the example of one would lead another in the same direction until the factions would eventually wither away.