The Taoiseach yesterday made a broad defence of the European project, pitching his pro-EU argument beyond the traditional concerns of Ireland's self-interest.
In a foreign policy speech here yesterday, Mr Ahern also called on drug companies to make retroviral anti-HIV drugs available cheaply in developing countries to save the lives of people who might otherwise die quickly of AIDS.
In a speech to Brazil's leading foreign policy "think tank", Mr Ahern said Irish people were strongly supportive of the EU despite the rejection of the Nice treaty by referendum.
"Some of you may wonder of the result marks in some fundamental way a departure from this consensus [behind EU membership]," he said to the Brazilian Centre for International Relations in Rio de Janeiro yesterday. "The Irish people remain firmly committed to the European project, including the early admission of those states applying for membership."
He challenged people to reflect on the alternative to EU membership which he said, was "a Europe dominated by the large countries where shifting alliances would lead to instability - in other words the sort of Europe that created the historical conditions for the conflicts and devastation of the past".
Mr Ahern paid tribute to the fight against AIDS in Brazil. "Brazil has shown that the domestic production of generic copies of life-saving medicines can have a huge impact on prices and can save lives." He called on the pharmaceutical industry "to show a deeper and sustained commitment to making these vital medicines available to the less privileged at an affordable cost."