As EU governments come to terms with the French No vote in the EU Constitution referendum, there is growing speculation that French Prime Minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin is preparing to resign.
He met the French President, Jacques Chirac, at the Elysée Palace in Paris this morning. Mr Chirac's office has said he will make an announcment on his government tomorrow.
In a televised address earlier, Mr Chirac said he was hugely disappointed by the result.
The Netherlands holds its referendum on Wednesday, but opinion polls there have shown consistent opposition.
Elsewhere, British Prime Minister Tony Blair has refused to say whether the French result meant a British referendum might now be abandoned.
He said the French decision had raised vital questions for Europe.
Taoiseach disappointed at French No
The Taoiseach has said he was obviously disappointed by the French rejection of the European Constitution, but accepted that it represented the democratic decision of the French people.
Asked whether the treaty could be re-negotiated, Bertie Ahern said he did not know how that could be done. He reaffirmed that an Irish referendum on the constitution would still go ahead come what may.
The President of the European Commission, José Manuel Barroso, has said the French rejection of the constitution posed a very serious problem. Mr Barroso said that re-negotiation of the document's text was not possible.
Ahern surprised at scale of No vote
The Minister for Foreign Affairs, Dermot Ahern, has said that while rejection of the EU Constitution by French voters was expected, the scale of the No vote was not.
Speaking on RTÉ's Morning Ireland, Mr Ahern described the result as a disappointment but said it was not a disaster. He believed the French decision would slow further enlargement of the EU.
The minister said extreme right-wing groups in France had undoubtedly used the issue of Turkey's application for membership to boost their campaign.
He warned that if the French referendum result started a rolling 'no' with Dutch voters on Wednesday and other member states, this would cause a severe difficulty.
Mr Ahern said it was evident that there had been a shift in power in the EU from the bigger countries such as France to the relatively smaller member states.
He said the Taoiseach had already begun to liaise with EU leaders and senior officials on the referendum result.
Ratification process must continue: EU
EU officials have said the process of ratifying the constitution must continue. Nine out of 25 countries have so far approved the document.
Speaking on RTÉ's The Week In Politics the Minister for the Environment, Dick Roche, said the Irish people would have to make their own decision about the constitution.
On the same programme, the EU Ambassador to the United States, John Bruton, said the French rejection of the treaty meant that future enlargement of the EU was in doubt.
Mr Bruton said the work of the European Union would continue.
