Taoiseach Micheál Martin has said he is focused on maintaining "stability and continuity" in Government at a time when major issues such as the cost-of-living crisis need to be addressed.
Playing down multiple reports of dissatisfaction among his backbenchers, the Fianna Fáil leader said it is time to be serious.
Mr Martin said he is more about substance than speculation and is focused on leading a Government that is responding to the huge challenges the country faces
Speaking to reporters after addressing the annual Seán Lemass commemoration at the Deansgrange Cemetery in Dublin, he said backbenchers who are coming to him about issues are saying it is nothing to do with his leadership, but that they are interested in developing policies.
The Taoiseach said he does not see a situation arising where Fianna Fáil TDs would threaten to vote against Leo Varadkar as taoiseach in December if he does not step down as Fianna Fáil leader
He dismissed quotes to this effect from unnamed TDs in today's Mail on Sunday as "speculation".
What is needed now, he said, is a focus on the Budget and the parallel cost-of-living package that will be announced in September
He said people are facing great difficulties because of the worst war in Europe since the 1940s, and the immediate focus now is to get that resolved and to maintain stability and continuity in Government.
Taoiseach says Dublin media misses middle ground in Northern Ireland
Earlier, the Taoiseach said we have done too little to build understanding and cooperation on this island, following the Good Friday Agreement.
In a speech at the Seán Lemass commemoration, Mr Martin said that the only route to national unity is "through everyone taking personal responsibility for challenging themselves and being open to change".
Mr Martin said the first priority has to be to restore the institutions of the Good Friday Agreement and show that cooperation is still possible.
The Taoiseach called for an end to what he describes as the "destructive cycle of parties collapsing democratic institutions whenever it suits them."
He added: "We have to restore trust that politics is not just a zero-sum game where there can only be one group who comes out ahead. We have to show people that their welfare now is as much of a concern as is choices which may arise in the future."
Mr Martin argued that the imposition of partition in 1920 and its reinforcement in 1922 "created two jurisdictions designed to be less diverse and defined by a core sectarian headcount", and said that "the rhetoric" of this headcount has too often been allowed "to replace the spirit of true republican engagement".
The Taoiseach raised a challenge posed by Mr Lemass, who asked: "How we can show those who we want to bring into a united Ireland that it will be a welcoming and protective place for them?", saying it remains unmet.
He argued that "the decision by Sinn Fein and the DUP to sideline and disband the Civic Forum has undermined non-partisan voices".
Mr Martin said: "Northern Ireland is still largely missing from news and current affairs coverage in Dublin, appearing only when there is a crisis to be covered... therefore it is more open to being defined by the loudest voices, missing those in the middle and missing the greater diversity of the society."
He spoke of "a rising tendency to dismiss and abuse those who are seen not to be conforming to a particular approach to how to achieve unity".
He added: "It is remarkable how often it is that those who are loudest in calling for national unity who are the most divisive in how they treat people who don't agree with their particular priorities."
"The first step towards unity is to question ourselves, to break old patterns and to respect diversity in reality and not just in speeches" the Taoiseach said.
Additional reporting Laura Fletcher
