Ireland votes in favour of EU fiscal pact

Irish voters have opted to ratify the European Union's deficit-fighting fiscal treaty, according to the final results of a referendum.

Final results showed only five constituencies out of 43 voted "No" to the German-led plan for stricter budget rules, with 60% of the electorate coming out in favour.

Enda Kenny, the Irish prime minister, hailed the result on Friday, but warned that further steps on banking regulation were needed from the EU in order to help Ireland emerge from its crisis.

"The Irish people have sent a powerful message around the world that this is a country that is serious about overcoming its economic challenges," Kenny told a news conference.

The opposition, meanwhile, accepted the vote but said that it will be difficult for the governement to follow through on promises of economic growth.

"The question now is where will the jobs and the stability they have promised come from, against the backdrop of a continuing and deepening capitalist crisis within Europe?" said Joe Higgins, leader of Ireland's Socialist Party, which opposed the treaty.

The government had courted unpopularity by insisting that Ireland - already four years into a brutal austerity programme - needed to vote in support of more cuts and tax hikes.

A "No" vote would not have blocked the pact, but it would have barred Ireland from emergency EU funding when its bailout package expires in 2013. In late 2010 Ireland received an EU-IMF bailout worth 85 billion euros after debts overwhelmed its banks.

The treaty must be approved by 12 of 17 Eurozone countries, but Ireland was the only one putting the issue to a public vote.