There had been a broad welcome for the decision by the Minster for Agriculture, Mr Walsh, to push ahead with full decoupling of farmers' support payments from agricultural production.
Fine Gael spokesperson Mr Billy Timmins said almost a year of uncertainty has ended but that the Minster must now clarify the situation for farmers losing out under the new proposals.
Green Party deputy leader Ms Mary White said decoupling should lead to better "environmental, food safety, plant and animal welfare standards".
Mr Philip Lynch, chairman of the State's food marketing agency, Bord Bia, said the move meant a new opportunity for the beef industry to exploit emerging opportunities abroad.
The Irish Cattle and Sheep Farmers' Association reacted positively, with vice president Mr Joe Kilmartin saying the decision reflected the realities of the market and would contribute to the sustainability and competitiveness of the industry in Ireland.
He declared the decision a triumph for his organisation's support of full decoupling as opposed to what he described as the "nightmare of a bureaucratic and unworkable system of partial decoupling".
The Minister made his move yesterday after years of argument at local and international level over reform of the EU Common Agricultural Policy (CAP).
EU Agriculture Commissioner Dr Franz Fischler concluded a deal with member states earlier this year that required an end to the link between support payments and output.
Mr Walsh had considered some form of partial decoupling under pressure form the State's biggest livestock farmers who stand to lose out financially from the measure. Small and medium size farmers in the livestock sector are expected to gain.
State agricultural research agency Teagasc produced a study last week showing full decoupling would lead to a pro-rata ten per cent rise in farm incomes by 2012.
But it showed those in the dairy sector will lose out. It has also been estimated that over 1,000 jobs could be lost in processing and related agricultural sectors.
The changes will eventually lead to fewer livestock on Irish farms - which will help reduce greenhouse gas emissions as required by the Kyoto protocol to which Ireland is a signatory.
The historic decision, ending a 30-year old system which Irish farmers were considered particularly adept at exploiting, was made at Cabinet on Saturday and will come into effect in 2005.