Kieran Lucid says talks will continue on the formation of an all-island All-Ireland football league despite opposition from the Irish Football Association (IFA) on Thursday.
The IFA ruled out any potential league, insisting the proposals to date are "highly speculative and lack specificity or guarantees".
Businessman Kieran Lucid addressed representatives from the bulk of Northern Ireland Football League and Airtricity League clubs in Dundalk last week, and asked clubs from both sides of the border to work with Dutch sports consultancy Hypercube over the coming couple of months to tease out his plan for an all-island league.
However, the IFA released a statement on Thursday confirming it will not sanction any of its members to take part in any potential all-island football league.
"Having listened to the proposals from Mr Lucid and his team, we believe the best interests of our member clubs and football in Northern Ireland are better served by remaining with the club-led model established in 2013 via the Northern Ireland Football League (NIFL)," a statement read.
Lucid however has told RTÉ Sport that it does not mean the end of the project, and a collaborative approach will continue.
"We note the announcement of the IFA," he said.
"The project we are embarked on is to support and improve the lot of professional football clubs on the island of Ireland.
"We remain focused on that objective. A considerable amount of work has been done to date; clubs are being regularly updated and consulted with as we make progress.
"The work will continue."
The Kerry native has developed a proposal to bring the two leagues north and south of the border together into a 14-team Premiership, complemented by two regional championship leagues running as an independent entity.
Lucid's project, which includes a working group of several influential and experienced figures associated with Irish football, including former Ireland manager Brian Kerr, has been staying below the media radar since its inception in early 2018, but was inadvertently outed by the FAI's acting chief Noel Mooney during the summer.
