Talks aimed at finding a route to the implementation of the reformed Common Agricultural Policy will begin within weeks, the Minister for Agriculture and Food, Mr Walsh, has promised.
He said many of the finer details of what has been the biggest shake-up in the CAP in its lifetime had still to be worked out by officials in Brussels.
"But as soon as they are, I will be talking with the social partners about the implementation of the decoupling element of the scheme," he said.
The agreement would totally change the shape of farming in Ireland in the future, he said, expressing the hope of seeing a more market-driven agriculture in the future.
Next Monday the Irish Farmers' Association will hold an emergency meeting of its national executive to discuss the new agreement and its impact on its members.
It will be concentrating on the cuts in dairy aid agreed by the farm ministers which both the IFA and the ICMSA believe will be very damaging to the dairy industry here.
The IFA has estimated that the cuts in market supports for butter and skim-milk powder will cost the average Irish dairy farmer at least €5,000 a year, excluding inflation.
The ICMSA will also hold a national council meeting to discuss the same issue as it believes the cuts in dairy produce will cost the average dairy farmer 31 per cent of income when implemented.
Mr Pat O'Rourke, president of the ICMSA, said his council would be seeking ways to minimise the impact of the deal on the dairy sector and on the calf industry, which would also be badly hit.
In other reaction to the agreement, the Irish Meat Industries Association of IBEC said that it was now crucial for the Irish meat sector to continue to be a market-driven industry.
"We need to fully exploit opportunities in European and world markets in order to provide for the development of a competitive processing sector and a profitable farming industry," said Mr Gerry Farrell, director of the IMIA.
Mr Farrell said that, while the deal finalised in Luxembourg agreed on a way forward for European agriculture, there was unfinished business with regard to Ireland's access to the European Single Market, particularly relating to beef.
Due to the renationalisation of European beef markets, Ireland's access to many lucrative continental European markets remained restricted, Mr Farrell said, and he urged the Minister for Agriculture to address this issue with his European counterparts.
Mr Cormac Healy, of the Irish Meat Association, said that the package agreed still represented challenges to the future development of the beef- and lamb-processing industry in this country.
The industry was totally opposed to the idea of full decoupling of payments in the cattle and sheep sectors as this would mean a drop in both the volume and quality of cattle and sheep produced on Irish farms.
This would quickly translate into job losses in the processing sector and a substantial loss in export earnings to the national economy.
However, the partial decoupling options negotiated in the final deal should now be fully assessed and used in a manner which will avoid any undermining of livestock production and meat-processing in this country," said Mr Healy.
He also called for the development of a national strategy which would maintain Irish livestock farmers in profitable production.