NO side reaction:Campaigners for a No vote have welcomed the rejection of the Lisbon Treaty by Irish voters.
Sinn Féin president Gerry Adams said the Treaty was "finished" as he arrived in the main count centre in Dublin Castle. He said the result should be interpreted positively. Irish people want a "social Europe" and want to be at the heart of Europe but to feel there is "maximum democratic power", Mr Adams said.
His party colleague, and Dublin MEP Mary Lou MacDonald said the strong No vote indicated that there was "a deep sense that the Government isn't serious about our position as a neutral state" and that people had declined to back the Treaty because of a "sense of a loss of power".
The founder of Libertas, Declan Ganley, who campaigned for a No vote, said: "The Irish people have rejected the Lisbon Treaty. "It is a great day for Irish democracy", he added.
Socialist Party leader Joe Higgins has said the likely No vote to the Lisbon Treaty was a "huge rebuff to the political establishment" but a vindication of the rights of "tens of millions of workers" in the European Union.
Speaking in Dublin Castle, where final results of the counts will be announced later, Mr Higgins said he believed the No side had "won the argument", despite the fact that the main political parties and "big business" were in favour of the treaty.
"Certainly from the point of view of the Socialist Party, the key elements that we raised, of concern about public services, militarisation and worker rights and the race to the bottom, they got a key echo among working people and in working class areas, and that was shown quite clearly in the result.
"This is not a disaster, which they have been trying to make out. In fact, this can be a rallying call for workers throughout Europe who have been at the brunt of this neoliberal juggernaut from the EU in terms of privatisation of services, attacking their pension rights, attacking the idea of a decent wage and a proper job.
"So workers should get up and fight now, fight for their services, fight against the military project, fight against the race to the bottom and particularly the abuse of migrant workers which the EU was part and parcel of with the Laval and other judgments."
One of the main trade unions, which represents 45,000 workers, has already welcomed the rejection of the Lisbon Treaty.
Eamon Devoy, general secretary designate of the Technical Engineering and Electrical Union, said it was almost certain the No campaign had won.
“The national executive of our union recommended a No vote in the referendum and it now seems clear that this has happened”, he said.