The Taoiseach, Mr Ahern, is emerging as the leading compromise candidate to succeed Mr Romano Prodi as president of the European Commission, following indications that Mr Ahern has the support of some of the EU's biggest states. Denis Staunton in Brussels and Arthur Beesley report
Mr Ahern will today begin a hectic round of telephone consultations with EU leaders in an effort to secure agreement on a candidate. There will be no summit to discuss the appointment until an agreed candidate has been found.
A number of sources in Dublin said there was a growing belief in Government circles that it was becoming increasingly difficult for the Taoiseach to resist the "enormous" pressure to allow his name to go forward. Despite Mr Ahern's insistence that he wishes to remain in Ireland, the sources said there was an increasing recognition in Governnment that the right thing for him to do would be to accept the nomination if it became available.
As Mr Ahern said last night that his nomination would be an "easy solution" for EU leaders, his spokeswoman acknowledged that he was coming under sustained pressure to allow his name go forward. "He is coming under a lot of pressure from member-states still, but he has stated on the record that he won't be taking the job. He is working very hard to finish the presidency and on his plans for the autumn."
While Mr Ahern told the Cabinet last Tuesday that he wanted to stay on as Taoiseach, political sources detected a shift in his attitude since his return from Brussels on Saturday when he told RTÉ that he was not a candidate "at this stage".
A spokesperson for the French President, Mr Jacques Chirac, yesterday dismissed a report that Mr Chirac asked the Taoiseach to put his name forward last week. Government sources confirmed, however, that Mr Chirac told Mr Ahern that he would support him if he became a candidate following the withdrawal from the race of Belgium's prime minister, Mr Guy Verhofstadt.
Efforts to choose a successor to Mr Prodi during last week's EU summit failed after Britain and Italy opposed Mr Verhofstadt, who enjoyed the backing of France and Germany.
The Taoiseach is certain to receive the backing of the British Prime Minister, Mr Tony Blair, and German sources suggested last night that Mr Gerhard Schröder is unlikely to oppose a candidate with French and British support.
A senior German government figure last week suggested that Mr Ahern's experience of running the EU for the past six months had given him a taste for European office. "He has tasted European blood," the German politician said.
The withdrawal of Mr Verhofstadt and of the External Relations Commissioner, Mr Chris Patten, last Friday, has left the race to succeed Mr Prodi wide open. Candidates under discussion include Portugal's Prime Minister, Mr Jose Manuel Durão Barroso; Austria's Mr Wolfgang Schüssel, and the EU's foreign policy chief, Mr Javier Solana.
Mr Solana said yesterday that he would find it hard to resist accepting the job if it was offered to him.
Other names under discussion include the Danish Prime Minister, Mr Anders Fogh Rasmussen; the former Finnish prime minister, Mr Paavo Lipponen; the Justice and Home Affairs Commissioner, Mr Antonio Vitorino; and the outgoing president of the European Parliament, Mr Pat Cox.
According to EU convention, the next Commission president should be a centre-right politician from a small country, preferably a serving or former prime minister. Of the candidates under consideration, only Mr Ahern, Mr Schuessel and Mr Barroso fulfil all three criteria.
The Taoiseach's handling of negotiations on the EU's constitutional treaty has won him the admiration of other EU leaders, who regard him as an even-handed, honest broker.