The Taoiseach, Mr Ahern, has said that he could easily have secured support from all EU governments if he allowed his name go forward for the presidency of the European Commission.
In an RTÉ radio interview in which he likened the final negotiation of the European constitutional treaty to the later stage of the talks on the Belfast Agreement, Mr Ahern said he had been tempted to declare his candidacy for the top job in the Commission.
"I was tempted when I had 21 of my colleagues who declared for me and there was only three left. Of the three that were left, if I had went to them, or if I had allowed one or two other senior prime ministers that wanted to go to them, I would very easily have got consensus."
Mr Ahern said the Prime Minister of Luxembourg, Mr Jean Claude Juncker - whom he described as the clear favourite for the post - had campaigned for him once he ruled himself out of the race. The British Prime Minster, Mr Tony Blair, and several of the 10 states who joined the EU in May supported that campaign.
While Mr Ahern said he was flattered and honoured to have been considered, the Brussels option was not for him.
"I do not want to end my political career in an interesting and very important and very valuable job around Europe. I've looked at it, I've had an opportunity of doing it at the highest level ... but it wasn't a job I want."
Mr Ahern praised Irish diplomats and officials for their work during Ireland's EU presidency, which finished last week.
In the interview on the This Week programme on RTÉ radio he also singled out for praise the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mr Cowen, and the Minster for European Affairs, Mr Roche. "While we didn't achieve every last item that we wanted to achieve, we achieved the vast bulk of it."
He said the constitutional treaty would be known as the European Constitution and not the Dublin Treaty, as mooted by some observers.
