Taoiseach Brian Cowen has said his main task now is to guard against a situation where Ireland finds itself isolated from the rest of the European Union.
Mr Cowen said he wanted Ireland to remain a full and constructive member of the EU as it sought to deal with the consequences of the rejection of the Lisbon Treaty.
There was no obvious solution to the impasse facing Ireland and the EU, and a period of reflection would be required, he said.
The Taoiseach was speaking yesterday on RTÉ's This Week programme, where he gave his most detailed response to date on the implications of the referendum result. Mr Cowen said he did not want to end up in a situation where the rest of Europe decided to redefine its relationship with Ireland on the basis that it wanted to proceed in a certain direction.
"I want to avoid that situation. I want Ireland to continue to be a constructive member of the Union. I have to point out, and I don't take any pleasure in this, that there are consequences to the decision that we have made.
"Fair enough, we have to respect the outcome. I have to use my position now to try and make sure that our interests are not compromised and not undermined, that we try and work with others to see if there is a way forward here which people will be prepared to agree other than the Lisbon Treaty route," he added.
Asked could this mean a relationship where Ireland had associate membership of the EU or a special deal, he replied: "I passionately believe that Irish interest is to be at the heart of the European Union. We now have to sit down and see if we can find a way forward. The fact of the matter is that there is no obvious solution before us here. We have to obviously reflect the issues and concerns. That I will do."
The Taoiseach said the referendum result left the Government in "uncharted water" but the quandary was one for the EU as a whole and not for Ireland alone.
"I absolutely recognise that this is not just an internal Irish decision, as important as it is for us. It also affects other states as well, 26 other countries who want to discuss this issue with us on the basis of this outcome," he said.
Mr Cowen rejected suggestions that he or the Yes side had intimidated the public.
"I did not bully anybody. The only bullying that went on is people who make false claims on either side of the arguments and I made no false claims. I am a democrat. I did put forward my case passionately and, I hope, forcefully.
"We clearly on the Yes side did not run as effective a campaign as we perhaps should have and could have. The outcome is there now. There's no point in hiding behind that. I take my share of responsibility. I take primary responsibility for it, if that was what people want . . . I was hoping for a win in this referendum campaign. It was the first political objective I set myself having got the job of Taoiseach a month ago. I am disappointed that I have not succeeded."
He said part of the responsibility now involved him dealing with the situation in hand. He argued it did not involve any lessening of Ireland's involvement with the EU.
"I don't think anyone is saying we should get out of Europe. The fact of the matter is that the fact we provide a blockage to what is otherwise a consensus to proceeding in a certain agreed fashion - which was set out in the Lisbon Treaty - means that they want to talk to us about that and they want to decide how they are going to proceed in the absence of having full unanimity on it."
He steered clear in his comments from dealing with the prospect of a second referendum, or if Lisbon was now finished.
"As things stand, if there are no changes and no political development and we can't come up with political solutions, then obviously this treaty does not proceed."
