Pope Benedict XVI today named 15 new cardinals but the list of the red-hatted prelates did not contain any Irish names.
Earlier this week, it was rumoured that the Archbishop of Dublin, Dr Diarmuid Martin, was in line to become a cardinal.
It was the first time Pope Benedict had nominated cardinals since he became pope last April, allowing him to start putting his stamp on the body of men that will one day elect his successor.
Pope Benedict announced the nominations at his weekly general audience, saying the formal installation of the new princes of the Church would take place on March 24th.
There are two types of cardinal, the elderly non-electors, who are all aged 80 and over, and the electors who enter a conclave to chose a new Pope after a papal death and must be aged under 80.
Church rules set a ceiling of 120 such electors. There are currently 110 electors but two men turn 80 before April.
To make sure that the Church has a full complement of cardinal electors, the pope's list included 12 men aged under 80 and three over the age limit.
Currently, there are 110 voting-age cardinals but between now and the end of March, Cardinal Bernard Agré of the Ivory Coast and Archbishop of Dublin Emeritus Desmond Connell will both celebrate their 80th birthdays.
This means that by the end of March, Ireland will be without a vote in a future conclave.
Among those set to become cardinals was Stanislaw Dziwisz, archbishop of Krakow, Poland, and the long-serving secretary of Benedict's predecessor, Pope John Paul.
US Archbishop William Levada, whom the Pope appointed to succeed him as head of the Vatican's powerful doctrinal department, will also become a cardinal, as will Archbishop Sean O'Malley of Boston, Archbishop Nicholas Cheong Jin-suk of Seoul and Bishop Joseph Zen Ze-kiun of Hong Kong.
Additional reporting Reuters