News of agreement on the deal at Stormont led to a flood of relief in Dublin political circles. According to the Tanaiste, Ms Harney, yesterday had to be recognised for what it was - "a historic, momentous day" which would bring great benefits and prosperity to the people of Ireland, North and South.
The Fine Gael leader, Mr John Bruton, described the agreement as a historic chance for reconciliation and co-operation among all the people affected by the conflict, wherever they lived. Recommitting his party to supporting the work of converting the agreement "into a lasting settlement", he said nobody should underestimate the enormous task ahead.
Describing the agreement as "potentially the most significant development in Northern Ireland since its foundation", the Labour Party leader, Mr Ruairi Quinn, said the people now had a unique opportunity to forge a new future for themselves.
Mr Austin Currie, the Fine Gael TD, who was a minister in the 1974 power-sharing executive, described yesterday as "the first day in the rest of our lives, the first day in the rest of our history". He added: "The constitutional and institutional context in which this can happen are now available. I look forward with confidence to endorsement by the Irish people."
The leader of Democratic Left, Mr Proinsias De Rossa, said the agreement gave people a chance to put years of bitterness and violence behind them and create new structures to deliver lasting peace and political stability.
Mr Trevor Sargent, the Green Party TD, said that all the political leaders should be commended for their courage. His party accepted that Articles 2 and 3 should be rephrased from their present "outdated language" to protect the identity of nationalists without undermining the rights of unionists. It would be a difficult balance to strike, but the time had come to address it.
One of the few dissenting voices was that of Mr Ruairi O Bradaigh, the president of Republican Sinn Fein, who said: "British rule in Ireland stands updated and strengthened this weekend."
Cross-Border bodies would have their growth and development controlled by the unionists and could not lead to a free and independent Ireland, Mr O Bradaigh said. "The agreement signed at Stormont is less than Sunningdale in that it provides for a Council of the British Isles and amendments to Articles 2 and 3 of the 1937 Constitution. It has been stated to be transitional, but it is in fact a stepping-stone away from Irish national independence.