The Taoiseach, Mr Ahern, yesterday brushed off questions about weekend remarks by his partner, Ms Celia Larkin, that they would get married.
Mr Ahern laughed when asked by reporters in Dublin when he would be announcing his engagement.
"Do you think I'd tell any of you?" he said.
A Government spokeswoman said Mr Ahern was not making any further comment.
Ms Larkin told a Sunday newspaper: "I think in the future, way down the line, we probably will marry."
She would not elaborate yesterday. "The article was factual and everything I have to say was in it," she said.
She laughed when asked if she could be more specific about when "way down the line" was. "How long is a piece of string?" she replied.
Much attention has been paid to the relationship between Mr Ahern and Ms Larkin, his former constituency worker who runs a beauty and style consultancy.
Mr Ahern is separated from his wife, Miriam, the mother of his two grown-up daughters. He has indicated in the past that he was unlikely to divorce or remarry.
Ms Larkin has been the Taoiseach's partner at official functions and State visits throughout his term in office, first attracting attention when her name was on the official invitations to a State reception for Ms Hillary Clinton in 1997 shortly after Mr Ahern entered government.
She has since accompanied him on official trips to Britain, the US, South America, South Africa and Europe.