The Minister for Justice, Mr McDowell has dismissed personal attacks on him by Sinn Fein as "battle fatigue" and said they would fail .
He said comments by the party's chief negotiator Mr Martin McGuinness had not isolated him in any sense.
Mr McGuinness said Mr McDowell's remarks that the Government was an honest broker in the peace process negotiations were absolute rubbish.
But speaking on RTE radio today, Mr McDowell said his position was exactly the same as the Taoiseach, Mr Ahern and the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mr Cowen.
He added: "If it is an attempt to isolate me, it is going to fail miserably.
"I put it down to just crankiness and a bit of battle fatigue and desire to lash out against somebody. But it is not going to work.
"My skin is a bit thicker than some might assume and I have broad shoulders. I can take a fair bit of heat."
Mr McDowell said that in three or four weeks it would become clear that the remarks were "lacking in content and analysis".
Last week Mr McDowell was attacked by Sinn Fein president Mr Gerry Adams on the same issue.
He dismissed the comments as the "product of tiredness".