The former honorary Chilean consul to Ireland, Gerald Kean, this weekend praised the "ethos and attitude" of the Chilean people although he has yet to set foot in the country he formerly represented.

Speaking after Thursday's dramatic rescue of 33 Chilean miners, Kean reflected on his years serving Chile and its former dictator Augusto Pinochet, whom he helped avoid extradition to Spain from London in 2000. He said he was always "generally impressed with the entire ethos and attitude to life of the Chilean people".

Kean represented the Chilean government at the time due to his role as honorary Chilean consul to Ireland, a position which he took up after being recommended for it because he had "helped out people from Chile in Ireland". However, he revealed that he has never set foot in the country and never personally met Pinochet, who died in Chile at the age of 91 in 2006.

"I've been to South America many times but not to Chile," Kean told the Sunday Tribune. "It was recommended to the Chilean government that I had helped out people from Chile in Ireland, that's all I will say on that. And as a result of that, they made some inquiries and said we'd like to have Gerald Kean as an honorary consul."

"Obviously, [the rescue] has brought Chile to the forefront of the international world… but I would have thought it wasn't necessary for the Chilean people to prove themselves because in my dealings with them, and the people, and the government officials, they were all super people to deal with. Very straight, very honest, very courteous, very decent people."

Despite his lack of familiarity with the country, the solicitor to the stars was asked in an interview in 2000 if he would recommend that Irish people visit Chile: "I thoroughly recommend it. It's a delightful place and all the people are highly civilised and very courteous."

Speaking for the first time about his role in negotiating the return of the brutal dictator in 2000 Kean told the Sunday Tribune: "I went to London to make representations... certainly my instructions at the time were that we should support the return of General Pinochet back to Chile. I was also probably a little bit surprised at the strength of support for General Pinochet. I mean, when I was honorary consul, General Pinochet was arrested in London and I know it was very, very important for the Chilean government to get General Pinochet back to Chile, rather than have him deported to Spain to face charges."

Official investigations since 1990 have confirmed more than 3,000 deaths and disappearances at the hands of Pinochet's security forces. Kean stepped down as honorary consul in 2002. When asked what year he was appointed he said he could not recall exactly but thought it was five or six years before.

Pinochet – a keen ally of former British prime minister Margaret Thatcher – was first arrested in 1998 in London on an international warrant issued by a Spanish judge. In a controversial move, he was sent back to Chile in 2000, after 16 months' house arrest in the UK, when then British home secretary Jack Straw ordered the move on compassionate grounds.

Asked if Pinochet's record of torture and suppression was ever an issue for him, Kean stressed that the dictator was "never a client".