THE EU: The Taoiseach, Mr Ahern, yesterday refused to rule himself out as a candidate for the presidency of the European Commission just one week before EU leaders meet to choose a successor to Mr Romano Prodi.
Mr Ahern said while he had been approached by a number of European countries to put his name forward at next week's European Council meeting of EU leaders, he was still committed to the role of Taoiseach.
When asked whether he would rule out taking up the post, he said: "At the moment I have to make a report [on the G8 summit] and we'll see how that is dealt with. And then we'll see what's happening. But it's not something that's on my agenda."
Mr Ahern has previously said he was not interested in taking over as president and wanted to stay in Dublin rather than take the Brussels-based post.
While Belgium's Prime Minister, Mr Guy Verhofstadt, is considered by many to be the frontrunner for the post, he has also played down speculation and said he was not "specifically" looking for a new job.
Mr Ahern is believed to have discussed the issue of the presidency at yesterday's summit meeting with British Prime Minister Mr Tony Blair, French President Mr Jacques Chirac, German Chancellor Mr Gerhard Schröder and Italian Prime Minister Mr Silvio Berlusconi.
The outgoing President of the European Parliament, Mr Pat Cox, has made it clear he would like to succeed Mr Prodi, although indications are that he has not received widespread support from the Commission.
Some observers have suggested that local and European elections results may influence Mr Ahern's opinion on whether he would be willing to take the Brussels post if offered it.
Mr Ahern, who was yesterday attending the Group of Eight meeting in Georgia, hinted that Fianna Fáil may lose a significant number of seats.
"Naturally enough I don't like losing any seats. The last time we went up substantially, even though we were in government. With the dual mandate, we've lost over 50 candidates before we've started. But we're in there competitively, fighting in every area," he said.
Mr Ahern also said much work remained to be done if there was to be a successful negotiation of the EU constitutional treaty at next week's European Council meeting.
"As I've said all along, it's going to be hard. There are 25 countries, all with their issues of priority, people with red lines, people with negotiating mandates, and to try and bring that all together is going to be some task. We trying, it's not going to be easy and it's a long way from a done deal."
At the conclusion of yesterday's G8 summit, meanwhile, Mr Ahern said EU-US relations had improved "dramatically" in recent times, and he hoped further progress could be made at a summit meeting to be held in Dromoland Castle later this month.
"We set out in the beginning of the year in the Irish presidency to improve the relationship. Obviously in a presidency you can only do so much. Events have helped dramatically. The level of trust and confidence has been extraordinary."