'Ireland enjoys excellent ties with Britain, Scotland'

Irish Foreign Minister Charlie Flanagan Friday said his country enjoys excellent and ever-improving relations with Britain and Scotland.

"The strong bonds and historic links between us all run deep and are well-known," Xinhua quoted Flanagan as saying in a statement issued after Scotland rejected independence in Thursday's referendum.

In the referendum, Scottish voters rejected independence by 55. 3 percent to 44.7 percent, with just four of the 32 councils voting Yes. The turnout was 84.59 percent as more than 3.6 million people went to the polls.

"As a neighbour, friend and partner across political, economic, cultural and many other spheres, Ireland enjoys excellent and ever-improving relations with Britain and with Scotland," he added.

Ireland will be in close contact with London, Edinburgh and other administrations as discussions proceed on enhanced devolution for Scotland and on the political changes across the UK as outlined by British Prime Minister David Cameron in his Friday's statement, according to Flanagan.

In the statement, Flanagan also said the Good Friday Agreement of 1998 "set as a key objective the promotion of harmonious and mutually beneficial development of the totality of relationships among the peoples of these islands."

The Good Friday Agreement or Belfast Agreement was a major political development in the Northern Ireland peace process of the 1990s. The agreement is made up of two inter-related documents, both agreed in Belfast on Good Friday, April 10, 1998.