Irish voters have approved the European Union's Lisbon Treaty, in a repeat referendum on the issue, the Voice of America reported.

Election officials announced on October 3 2009 that more than 67 per cent of voters supported the treaty in the referendum held the day before.

Irish prime minister Brian Cowen welcomed what he called a "resounding yes" to the treaty, which is aimed at streamlining the decision making in the 27-nation bloc.

Cowen called the vote a good day for Ireland and for Europe.

Several leaders inside and outside the EU welcomed the result.

European Commission President Jose Barroso told an October 3 news conference: "Thank you Ireland: It's a great day, for Ireland and for Europe"

"The Irish people have spoken. They have said a resounding yes to Europe," said Barroso.

He said that he had spoken Cowen to congratulate him, and to other Irish leaders who had supported the yes vote.

"I see the yes vote as a sign of confidence by the Irish people in the European Union, as a sign of their desire to be wholehearted members at the heart of the European Union. As a sign that Ireland recognises the role that the European Union has played in responding to the economic crisis," Barroso said.

"I believe that the European Union needs the Lisbon Treaty so that we can be more effective, and more accountable, in delivering an agenda that produces concrete results for our citizens," he said.

Now that all member states had democratically approved the Lisbon Treaty, Barroso said that he hoped that the necessary procedures for its entry into force could be completed as quickly as possible in Poland and the Czech Republic. Poland's president is expected, according to media reports, to proceed with signing the treaty although the outcome in the Czech Republic is uncertain, given the challenge in the constitutional court by senators reportedly aligned to Czech president and Eurosceptic Vaclav Klaus.

In Warsaw, Polish prime minister Donald Tusk said that he expected Poland to ratify the Lisbon Treaty "very fast" so as not to seem as if it had delayed the process after Ireland's "Yes" to the treaty, AFP said.

"I hope President Lech Kaczyński will sign the Treaty very fast as he promised," Tusk told journalists.

Bulgarian President Georgi Purvanov cabled congratulations to his Irish counterpart Mary McAleese on the overwhelming "Yes' of Irish voters at the referendum on the Treaty of Lisbon, Purvanov's press secretariat said on October, news agency BTA reported.

Bulgarian National Radio reported that Foreign Minister Roumyana Zheleva had welcomed Ireland’s approval of the Lisbon Treaty.

"We are making a significant step forward in the introduction of the treaty. I am sure that it will regulate the effective, transparent and democratic functioning of the union. Upon entering into full force, the Lisbon Treaty will introduce a framework for quicker and easier taking of decisions on EU level," Zheleva said.

BNR quoted Zheleva as saying that the treaty was important to further EC’s enlargement policy towards countries from the Western Balkans.

UK prime minister Gordon Brown also welcomed the decisive result.

In June 2008, Irish voters rejected the Lisbon Treaty, a move that brought profound reaction and rendered impossible the initial proposal to bring the treaty into force from January 2009.

There was also reaction from outside the EU among states aspiring to membership of the bloc.

In Skopje, Macedonian prime minister Nikola Gruevski described the outcome of the Irish referendum is a step for Macedonia to the European Union, MIA agency said, as quoted by Bulgarian news agency Focus. Gruevski considered the positive results of the referendum as one problem less before Macedonia’s European integration.

In Belgrade, Serbian foreign minister Vuk Jeremić said that the success of the Irish EU referendum marks a "new episode in the development of the EU", Serbian news website B92 said.

He said that the positive result of the referendum opened the door to all European peoples, including those in the Western Balkans.