Dublin - There was relief in Ireland on Friday at news of the deal in Brussels to make legally binding a set of guarantees designed to convince Irish voters to back the European Union's Lisbon Treaty.

The deal represents "considerable relief" for Irish Prime Minister Brian Cowen, according to daily newspaper the Irish Times.

Despite speculation that there was an element of "political theatrics" about how the deal was made, business analysts in Dublin told Irish national broadcaster RTE that the deal indicated European "support" for Ireland.

The agreement followed an early meeting Friday between Cowen and the British Prime Minister Gordon Brown at which Brown indicated that the British would no longer stand in the way of a reference to a future protocol.

Thursday Cowen made clear to fellow EU leaders in a private letter, leaked to the media, that he needed a protocol with the set of guarantees to be attached to the treaty to provide greater legal certainty.

He warned that the press had already made the character of the legal guarantee an issue and reminded them that French President Nicolas Sarkozy had promised a protocol.

"We are satisfied that what we are about here today no way affects the constitutional requirements of any other member state," Foreign Minister Micheal Martin told RTE earlier Friday.

Irish voters rejected the Lisbon treaty, which is supposed to make the EU more efficient, at a referendum in June 2008.

Post-mortem analyses showed that Irish voters rejected the treaty out of fears that it would take away Ireland's control of tax law, family law and labour and social guarantees.

There were also concerns about Ireland's neutrality. Ruling Fianna Fail's junior coalition partner, the Green party, was coming under pressure Friday to make clear their position towards the treaty and neutrality.

The Greens, who failed to call for a "yes" vote in last year's referendum, demanded that Ireland pull out of the European Defence Agency three months ago.

The party was now claiming a victory by getting a promise for new laws on Ireland's participation in the agency.

The party received a drubbing in the recent European and local election polls along with the Fianna Fail party.

Doubts had been expressed about the government's ability to carry a second referendum on Lisbon.

With agreement on the guarantees in place, the government can now proceed with plans for the referendum expected to be in early October, the Irish Times said.(dpa)