The response yesterday from official Irish sources to the Danish referendum remained bullish, despite clear disappointment at the outcome.
It would have been better for the EU and the euro if the Danes had voted to adopt the currency, the Taoiseach said.
"It's not good, but let's be frank, it would be far better if all the countries were in," Mr Ahern commented, as this would have created a more positive background for the Swedes to approach their referendum on the euro - and also the British.
But the Danes represented only "2 per cent of the zone", the Taoiseach said, adding: "This is not going to change things." The outcome of the referendum will make little real impact on Danish monetary policy since the krone in fact remains pegged to the euro, he said.
The former Fianna Fail cabinet minister and Brussels commissioner, Mr Michael O'Kennedy, however, felt that the Danes' non-acceptance of the euro was "clearly a setback" in terms of EU development, "particularly having regard to what the Swedes and the British might do".
There would, inevitably, be a degree of apprehension, he added. "From the political perspective it is not the most positive of outcomes."
Fianna Fail, he said, was not particularly embarrassed by the pivotal role played by its European Parliament partner, the far-right Danish People's Party led by Ms Pia Kjaersgaard, in the referendum campaign.
The DPP is renowned for its hardline anti-immigrant platform - and has called for, among other things, the castration of paedophiles. Its MEP, Mr Mogens Camre, sits with Fianna Fail in the European Parliament.
It would now be up to EU heads of government and the finance ministers to review the political position in the light of the referendum outcome, Mr O'Kennedy said.
Ireland's situation would not change relative to the Germans, French, Dutch or Belgians. "We're on the inside," he said.
This was a view shared by Mr Brendan Halligan, chairman of the Institute of European Affairs, an independent forum for the development of Irish strategic policy responses to the process of European integration.
EU membership comprised "insiders" and "outsiders" in his opinion. The latter group included countries such as Denmark, while Ireland was definitely an "insider".
On the question of British adoption of the euro, he felt that would become pivotally important for Tony Blair if he won the forthcoming general election. Britain wanted to be among the leaders of the EU. That could not happen unless it accepted the single European currency.