Ireland voted resoundingly in favour of the EU's Lisbon Treaty in a rerun referendum, overturning a previous No vote and taking a key step towards ending the expanding bloc's deadlock, leaders said yesterday.
Irish Prime Minister Brian Cowen called the Yes vote by 67 per cent "a good day for Ireland and... a good day for Europe", while EU counterparts also hailed a crucial move for its future.
"Today the Irish people have spoken with a clear and resounding voice - it's a good day for Ireland and it's a good day for Europe," said the Irish Taoiseach, or premier.
In Brussels, European Commission chief Jose Manuel Barroso thanked the Irish people "for this sign of confidence", saying it "showed that the European Union was ready to listen" to the misgivings which led to last year's No vote.
The result was also welcomed in the Balkans, where EU membership candidates including Serbia had feared a second Irish No would torpedo their chances of ever joining the bloc.
In a first referendum in June 2008, Irish voters stunned the EU by rejecting the Lisbon Treaty - designed to streamline decision-making - by 53 per cent. A second No vote would have effectively killed the treaty, which notably creates a new full-time EU president and foreign minister for the 27-nation EU, home to some 500 million Europeans.
But with votes counted in 40 of Ireland's 43 constituencies after the referendum last Friday, 67 per cent had voted Yes compared to 33 per cent against, according to official results.
The No camp conceded defeat even before official results were published in Ireland, the only EU country constitutionally obliged to put the treaty to a referendum.
"The Irish people have asserted their trust in the political establishment of this country who have promised them jobs for a Yes vote and economic recovery," said Declan Ganley, who led the victorious No campaign last year.
Dublin agreed to hold another poll after securing guarantees on key policy areas which it felt were behind last year's rejection, such as its military neutrality, abortion and tax laws.
But there had been concerns that some voters would use the referendum to kick Cowen's increasingly unpopular government over the spectacular collapse of Ireland's long-booming economy.
Even with an Irish Yes vote, further obstacles remain: while 25 EU states have now formally backed it, Poland and the Czech Republic are the only others yet to ratify the treaty.
In Prague last Friday, the Czech constitutional court ordered President Vaclav Klaus - who in any case is a fierce opponent of the Lisbon Treaty - to hold off signing it into force. The Irish result is also being closely watched in Britain where opposition leader David Cameron, tipped to win elections due by next June, has pledged to hold a referendum if he takes power and Lisbon has not yet been ratified.
There have been suggestions in the European Parliament that British former prime minister Tony Blair could be given the job of EU president which would be created if the Lisbon Treaty comes into force.
British Prime Minister Gordon Brown said the Irish Yes vote clears the way for the bloc to move forward on key areas like the economy.
"We can now work together to focus on the issues that matter most to Europeans ," he said.
In Belgrade, the Serbian government hailed the Irish vote, saying EU hopefuls in the western Balkans would also benefit from it.
Spain, which takes over the EU's rotating presidency for the first half of next year, vowed to make its implementation a key priority.