The Garda decision to accept the Government pay offer has been welcomed in political circles with Opposition parties claiming the dispute should be a "lesson" to the Minister for Justice, Mr O'Donoghue.
The Fine Gael spokesman on justice, Mr Jim Higgins, yesterday said the continuation of the pay impasse and industrial unrest among gardai would undoubtedly have had serious consequences for public order and safety.
"I sincerely hope that the Minister has learned the lesson that there must be a consistent approach between heightened expectations created in Opposition and actual performance in Government," Mr Higgins said.
Labour's justice spokesman, Mr Pat Upton, called on the Minister and the gardai to now tackle "on the basis of trust and mutual respect" the many serious criminal justice issues facing the State.
"Hopefully, Minister O'Donoghue will learn lessons from his handling of the dispute. His behaviour in Opposition raised the expectations of gardai across the country.
"He has no one but himself to blame for the crisis that befell the force over the past number of months," Mr Upton said.
Mr O'Donoghue had been unable to resolve the pay issue himself and a breakthrough was secured only when the Taoiseach, Mr Ahern, intervened directly, he added.
The result of the Garda pay ballot was greeted with relief in Government, with a spokesman laying particular stress on the emphatic nature of the outcome. Sources said, however, that restraint in relation to public service pay could not be broken.
The Progressive Democrats' finance spokesman, Senator John Dardis, echoed this sentiment, saying that "if unrealistic claims are made and granted it could undermine the benefits to wider society of the current economic boom".
The Government would deliver a radical tax-cutting Budget later this year which would be sufficient to satisfy the demands of all PAYE workers and which would particularly address the needs of those on low and modest incomes.