The Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mr Cowen said this evening he remains confident agreement can be reached within a month on a European Union constitutional treaty.
He was speaking as 25 EU foreign ministers relaunched efforts in Brussels to reach a deal by mid-June.
Mr Cowen said today's talks were helpful. "Based on discussions so far, I remain confident that within the timetable set out for us, foreign ministers are going to meet the responsibility that has been give to us...with every prospect of success."
However, with just four weeks to settle a complex web of agreements is increasingly seen as a tall order in many EU capitals - even though the Taoiseach, Mr Ahern, holding the the EU presidency, is determined to get it done.
The British Foreign Secretary Mr Jack Straw said the current deadline for a European constitution may be too tough to meet.
The first constitution talks collapsed last December under Italy's EU presidency, in a wrangle over relative voting weights in EU decision-making.
A second failure on any of the arcane EU administrative issues the planned constitution must include would give eurosceptics fresh new ammunition in their fight to see off what they believe is a federalist plot.
The signs of fresh hitches were clear as the foreign ministers got down to business today, with Germany and the UK clashing over the proposed Charter of Fundamental Rights which is set out in the draft constitution.
The UK says the Charter must be nothing more than a pull-together of established civil rights in Europe and does not need to be legally-binding.