IRISH Embassy officials in London have expressed their surprise" at the tone of an article in the Daily Mail yesterday which questioned the ability of the EU Commissioner, Mr Padraig Flynn, and said they were "considering what appropriate action to take."
A spokesman confirmed that the embassy had received a number of calls expressing "outrage and anger" at the article by Bruce Anderson. It is understood that attempts to contact Mr Flynn in Brussels about the article have so far been unsuccessful.
"The embassy is surprised at the tone of the article, which is so much at variance with the reality in all parts of Ireland, including the west of Ireland. We are considering what appropriate action to take," the spokesman added.
In the article, Mr Anderson, who has written a biography of the British Prime Minister, Mr John Major, writes: "As soon as you arrive in Ireland, you leave the modern world." He describes Castlebar, Co Mayo, Mr Flynn's birthplace, as a "timeless region".
He accuses Mr Flynn of "narrow and limited vision" and alleges he is a "disaster area who was nominated to Brussels by Fianna Fail, which Mr Anderson describes as "the most anti British of the Irish political parties . . . It is not a Thatcherite Tory party."