The controversial speech made by Germany’s ambassador to Ireland, Christian Pauls, demonstrates that you don’t have to be a diplomat to head an embassy. Offering a bleak overview of his host country, Herr Pauls apparently told his audience –a group of 80 German industrialists gathered at Clontarf Castle–that Ireland was a “coarse” place where the natives were obsessed with money. Not exactly pulling his punches, Pauls went on to marvel aloud that junior ministers in Ireland were paid more than the German chancellor and that “Irish doctors who were offered annual salaries of €200,000 (£138,000) to work in the public sector turned their noses up at what they called “Mickey Mouse money”.”

There was plenty of more digs during Mr Pauls stand-up routine, although his quip that Ireland’s history was “even sadder than Poland[‘s]” might be viewed as a tad unwise for a German representative to utter.

It was speculated on RTE’s Morning Ireland that as Mr. Pauls is approaching retirement, he felt liberated to breach diplomatic protocol by making an honest speech.

Although much of what Mr. Pauls says about the culture of coarse avarice is true about Ireland (similar criticisms about arid prosperity were aimed at Germany during the Wirtschaftswunder years), his insights aren’t exactly startling at this stage of the game.

Plus, thanks to the prodigious output of characters such as David McWilliams (returning to our television screens this evening with his pantomime creations, “Bono Boomer” and “Botox Bettie”) and Eddie Hobbs, about the only thing we don’t need to import from Germany is would-be comedic observers of the Irish economic scene.