The Taoiseach said today the British general election reverses suffered by the Ulster Unionist party would make things "more difficult" in Northern Ireland.
The outcome of last week's polling, in which the UUP lost seats to the Democratic Unionist Party, will be reviewed at a bilateral meeting between Mr Ahern and Mr Tony Blair in Gothenburg in Sweden this week during a European summit.
The results have already been discussed during a detailed telephone conversation between the two leaders at the weekend.
Mr Ahern said in Dublin today: "I think both of us are determined to get on with what we wanted to do anyway, regardless. We have to do that.
"But I think it will be more difficult and we will see how the local election results go today and tomorrow.
"But we are committed to getting on with that agenda, and we are going to meet on Thursday or Friday to discuss how we are going to handle it.
"I hope everybody holds their nerve on these issues. I know David Trimble would have liked to do better in an electoral context.
"But he is still there with a lot of seats and we will just have to try and deal with the situation."
Mr Ahern added: "David Trimble has been very much a progressive leader in all of these talks for the past four years so I think it is important that he is there as we work our way through."
PA