There was a mood of relief and thanks in Warsaw last night after Irish voters accepted the Nice Treaty in Saturday's referendum.
Mr Aleksander Kwasniewski, the Polish President, sent a letter of congratulations to his Irish counterpart, Mrs Mary McAleese.
However, the leader of the country's leading anti-EU party said that Irish voters had been "manipulated" by Brussels.
"This is a very important day in the history of contemporary Europe. To our Irish friends we congratulate them and thank them," wrote Gazeta Wyborcza, Poland's leading newspaper in a commentary. "By voting Yes the Irish people have stretched out their hands to Poland and other candidate countries."
The referendum was a huge media event in Poland over the weekend. News channels broadcast extensive reports from Dublin as well as lengthy discussion programmes. The leading newspapers printed front-page editorials with headlines such as: "What do you say, Ireland?" Poland is by far the largest EU accession state with a population of 39 million. Leading EU observers in Warsaw said yesterday that the Irish vote will have wide-reaching implications here.
"The Irish vote will have a positive effect on the Polish government's campaign to win next year's referendum on EU accession," said Dr Robert Sobiech, a professor at Warsaw University.
The Irish result will put to rest many Polish fears about being swallowed by the European Union, he said. "The Irish have shown Poles that member-states can still retain their voice in the EU."
The most recent opinion poll showed that 74 per cent of the Polish electorate plans to vote in next year's referendum on EU accession. Of those who vote, some 70 per cent said they will vote to join the EU, with 22 per cent against.
The Irish Yes vote is a serious blow to the anti-EU groups in Poland. "They will have to rethink their strategies, as the Irish vote disproves and discredits many of their key arguments," said Dr Sobiech.
Poland is one of the few accession countries with an organised political opposition to EU accession. One group, the Self-Defence Party, won support at last year's election by playing on fears about the future of Polish agriculture and the fear that foreigners will buy up Polish land.
Mr Andrzej Lepper, the fiery leader of the Self-Defence Party, was unusually subdued yesterday.
"I'm definitely not happy with the result and it won't change my mind about the EU," he told The Irish Times. "I don't think Irish voters want the best for Poles. They were just influenced by manipulation from Brussels from people like [Agricultural Commissioner] Mr Franz Fischler." He denied that the anti-EU movement in Poland was weakened by the Irish result.
In hindsight, the first rejection of Nice in Ireland and the subsequent debate was useful for Poland, said Mr Piotr-Nowina Konopka, a former deputy minister in the European Integration Ministry and rector of the College of Europe in Warsaw.
"It moved forward the debate on Europe in Poland like nothing else has done," he said. "Now we are extremely grateful and hope that Ireland will be a partner of ours in an enlarged Europe." The outcome of the Irish referendum was a relief to Ms Roza Thun, president of the Robert Schuman Foundation in Warsaw, which campaigned for a Yes vote.
"A No vote would have been fatal. We have reached a crucial moment, there is a momentum there and that would have been lost," she said.
"Another no vote would have put wind in the sails of the populists and demagogues in Europe. So I am very happy that Irish voters will not be exploited in this way." She called on Irish NGOs and interest groups to collaborate with their Polish colleagues ahead of Poland's referendum on EU membership next year.
Despite the overall euphoria in Poland, however, a note of caution was sounded by some media outlets yesterday.
"We cannot forget that negotiations are not over yet and, in many ways, the most difficult issues on subsidies are still ahead," said Mr Robert Soltyk, a senior European editor with Gazeta Wyborcza.
Virtual Poland, a leading news website, voiced similar concerns.
"This is only a temporary relief ahead of this week's summit in Brussels on agricultural subsidies which could be a breakthrough or blockade summit."