Some of the politicians who are impersonated on RT╔'s Bull Island said they will miss the show when it disappears from the schedule in the new year.
Ms Mildred Fox, Independent TD for Wicklow, told The Irish Times she "will miss the slagging I got over the past year or two".
A spokesman for the Fine Gael leader, Mr Michael Noonan, said the decision "to drop the show is a crying shame, politics needs a lighter side". But he said he recognises RT╔ was currently under "considerable financial strain".
A spokesman for the Minister for Public Enterprise, Ms O'Rourke, said she would "regret the fact that it's going to be dropped" as she had always enjoyed the programme. "She understands the rationale behind the satire on the programme," said the spokesman.
Asked last week what he thought, the Taoiseach, Mr Ahern, said, "it's fun".
Mr Billy McGrath, RT╔'s commissioning editor for light entertainment, said the programme had not been axed, and the decision not to schedule it in the new year had been made on cost-cutting grounds, which is affecting all departments in RT╔. He said the decision owed nothing to political interference, and added that the programme may return next autumn.
One of the programme's performers, Alan Shortt, said the team was told last Wednesday it would not be returning in the new year, but would hopefully return in September. However, RT╔ had given no commitment on that.
Mr Shortt, whose impersonations include the Taoiseach and the Fine Gael leader, said the timing was unfortunate as "we are coming up to an election year, the time when we could have the most fun in five years, and now we are told we can't".
Mr McGrath said one episode cost almost £80,000 to produce. It had a high cash cost, with up to 15 writers and performers for each episode. Overall, the programme's rating was in the top five home-produced programmes.
Mr Shortt told The Irish Times he would "fear for RT╔ itself. If it is going to cut quality programming to save a few pounds, it runs the risk of losing the audience."
Mr McGrath said the station would encourage efforts to take the show on tour as a live performance. Mr Shortt said that was something he would love to do.