The Taoiseach, Mr Ahern, refused to change his mind yesterday on appearing in a head-to-head debate on abortion with the Fine Gael leader, Mr Michael Noonan.
There was further pressure placed on Mr Ahern when Mr Noonan wrote to him to re-issue the invitation. However the Taoiseach, when questioned by reporters yesterday morning, said he did not wish to comment on the matter.
He had nothing further to add other than what his spokesman had said on Sunday when he refused to take up the challenge laid down by the Fine Gael leader at the party's ardfheis, saying it should not become a party political issue.
Mr Ahern said voters would see "plenty" of himself and Mr Noonan between now and the general election and it was that election that he was concentrating on, he added.
But the former Fine Gael leader, Mr Alan Dukes, accused Mr Ahern of "political cowardice" in refusing to agree to the debate.
Mr Ahern will not take the Order of Business today in the Dáil when Opposition leaders intended raising the issue with him. A Fine Gael spokesman said they had only been informed at the "last minute" that the Taoiseach would be meeting with the Prime Minister of Hungary, Mr Vikton Orban, at that time.
In his letter, Mr Noonan said he and Mr Ahern have for many years exchanged views in the Dáil and elsewhere on the topics of the day.
"Our exchanges have been marked by civility and respect and, I believe, have helped inform subsequent public debate. Contrary to your expressed wish, the debate on the abortion referendum has so far been bitter and divisive and has certainly not generated the consensus you desire. It has even divided the Pro-Life movement. It has also generated much more debate that is desirable, as witnessed in particular by last week's Dáil exchanges."
He said the purpose of the proposed debate on RTÉ would be to set the appropriate tone for the rest of the campaign and to inform public discussion on this, the major political issue of the day.
Meanwhile, the leader of the Labour Party, Mr Ruairí Quinn, also wrote to Mr Ahern yesterday. He said he was seeking clarification of a number of claims made by Ministers seeking support for a Yes vote in the referendum on March 6th to overturn the judgment of the Supreme Court in the X case.
Mr Quinn said the Government campaign was clouded in ambiguity and that the public was entitled to clear and precise replies from the Taoiseach so that they would be in a position to make an informed judgment on March 6th.
"Particularly the Tánaiste has been using an assertion for which there is no logical or factual basis, namely that the amendment will for the first time provide protection for doctors who act to save women's lives."
"My advice is that the position is that the Offences against the Person Act, 1861 does not prohibit all abortions, only abortions carried out "unlawfully". Following the 8th Amendment and the X Case, nobody could possibly be in any doubt that an intervention designed to obviate a real and substantial risk to the life of the mother is entirely lawful in the State . . ."
Consequently, he said, interventions by medical practitioners involving termination of pregnancy designed to protect the mother from a real and substantial risk to her life are entirely lawful at present, and fully protected in the Constitution and by statute.
"It is quite frankly dishonest to claim otherwise and I hope that claims of this nature will now cease," he added.