Addressing a conference organised by UL's Centre for GermanIrish studies at the end of August, Christian Pauls made critical comments about the Irish public transport system . . . unfavourably comparing Irish trains to those in Germany . . . and the health service.

One person present said the comments were "more negative than positive". He added that while there was "nothing outrageous" about the comments . . . with which many Irish people would concur . . . it was perhaps "overly concentrated on one side".

Pauls has a reputation in government circles for speaking out.

"He is very outspoken. He certainly raises eyebrows, " one source close to government said.

Commenting on the remarks made in Clontarf Castle, another government source said: "What he is reported as saying is neither implausible nor out of character. The guy has form."

Efforts to contact the German embassy this weekend were unsuccessful, but Pauls last week responded to the controversy about his Clontarf Castle remarks by claiming parts of his speech had been mistranslated.

The ambassador said he regretted any misunderstanding caused by the speech, adding that he would have taken offence if he was an Irish person reading the remarks as reported. He told RTE news: "I would have said 'he is a complete idiot', which I don't think I am, " and added that the story was a "storm in a teacup and we should get over it".

The Department of Foreign Affairs expressed its strong disquiet to the ambassador about the remarks made at Clontarf Castle when he described Ireland as a "coarse place" where hospital waiting lists were chaotic and everyone drove '06 and '07 cars.

The department's secretary general, Dermot Gallagher, contacted Pauls to tell him the unscripted comments, made on 7 September, were "misinformed and inaccurate".

The department has confirmed that foreign affairs minister Dermot Ahern asked Gallagher to tell the ambassador of his unhappiness at the "unbalanced picture he painted of Ireland". The comments were made to 80 businessmen, who were all members of the German Federation of Buying and Marketing Groups.

A week earlier in Limerick, Pauls was addressing a conference to commemorate 50 years of writer Heinrich Boll's Irish diary.