The next government will have to study the result of the abortion referendum to learn its implications, the Taoiseach, Mr Ahern, told the opening session of the Fianna Fáil Ardfheis.
Dealing with the referendum result, Mr Ahern said he had not changed his "personal views" on abortion. "My views are well known. But the people have spoken and the people's voice is the final word in democracy.
"It will be the work of the next government to study and understand the results and implications of this referendum, and to act upon it. And above all, in doing so, the will of the sovereign people as expressed at the ballot box should be respected."
The referendum that emerged from the Green Paper and the All-Party Committee on the Constitution "in both its legislative form and constitutional format was an honest reflection of what arose from that process".
In fighting mood before delegates gathered in the Citywest Hotel, the Taoiseach rejected the call by the Fine Gael leader, Mr Noonan, to call the general election immediately.
"I note that the leader of the Opposition has said that he wants me to call it now because his party can't stick the pace. I have responded that I just hope that he will be the leader when we do get there," he said, to loud applause.
Emphasising once more that he intends to hold to his election timetable, he went on: "Like all the other promises that I have made and kept, we will fight the election in the fine days of May."
On immigration, Mr Ahern had a double-edged message for Fianna Fáil: "There are approximately 160 different nationalities living in Ireland today. Ireland is becoming a multicultural society. Our national life can be enriched by the contribution of the new Irish.
"While we build respect and openness to other cultures in Ireland, our party is also working hard to make progress with realistic migration policies and improved asylum procedures.
"That does not mean adopting an "open door" policy. No country operates such a system and we are not going to do so either."
In power, Fianna Fáil would update immigration rules to ensure that needed skilled labour from abroad can work in Ireland, along with ensuring fair play for Irish workers. Ireland would honour its United Nations humanitarian obligations.
Correspondingly, Fianna Fáil would cut the time it takes to deal with asylum applications to six months and increase the number of repatriations of those whose applications are refused.
He called on the party to honour the anti-racism pledge which he signed this week. "Let's make sure that we do our share to ensure that there is no racism in the party."
