Speculation that attempts were being made to oust the Taoiseach, Mr Ahern as leader of Fianna Fáil was "rubbish", the Minister for Health, Mr Martin said last night.
"It's all rubbish. It's all nonsense. I think there is a lot of idle speculation going on and that's all it is," he said.
He was confident, he said, that Mr Ahern would lead the party into the next election.
"Bertie Ahern is the only politician that has received a definite mandate from the people to govern for the next five years and to lead us into the next general election".
Asked if anyone had approached him about leading the party into the next election he replied: "Absolutely not" before adding: "My name hasn't been mentioned in any dispatches of recent times nor should it be because Bertie Ahern is a young man, he's a very dynamic and popular leader, he has brought the Fianna Fáil party from a very difficult position in the mid 90s - I can remember the 1992 election when we came back with less than 70 seats, now we have 81 seats - so on a whole range of fronts Bertie Ahern has been a very effective leader of Fianna Fáil and will continue to be," he said.
Mr Martin said he knew nothing about a reported secret meeting among backbenchers on Tuesday to devise a strategy to oust Mr Ahern. "I've no idea about that, genuinely. I'm not too sure of the status of that, if any," he said.
"All we are focused on is the Nice referendum. I genuinely think there is a lot of stuff going on that as far as we are concerned isn't a runner, so basically I think people need to get a grip on reality in that sense," he added.
Furthermore, he said the main focus of yesterday's Cabinet meeting was the Nice referendum and the consensus was it was "winable".
He believed there would be a stronger turnout this time round but the party had to get out and canvass aggressively.
Mr Martin, who spoke to reporters after attending a function at St James's Hospital, Dublin, said he didn't believe Mr Justice Flood's comments in relation to former Minister Mr Ray Burke had damaged the prospects of a Yes vote in the referendum.
However, he said he felt Mr Burke had let down the party and politics generally.
"I think the Flood tribunal did a very good job in terms of bringing these issues to light. We set up the Flood tribunal and it will continue with its work".