Cowen forced into doing the two-step

THE motorcade was impressive. The army officer with the white gloves did a salute as the French president emerged from his car.

The Taoiseach was in the perfect place: top of the steps, to one side of the door frame. If he’d had the arrogance to stay put, Sarkozy would have had to ascend the steps and be swept to the Taoiseach’s left.

That would have framed the two of them neatly between the great pale stone pillars and allowed Brian Cowen to do a sustained handshake with his arm across his body: the power handshake all strong leaders, from Blair to Clinton, organise for themselves.

Alternatively, if the Taoiseach had decided to abandon arrogance and show warmth, he would have gone down the steps to the car, climbed back up with Sarkozy and steered him into the right-of-picture position.

The Taoiseach did neither. He dithered his way down a step, then back up and allowed Sarkozy to decide where he’d go.

So of course Sarkozy chose the power position.

Not only did he put himself in the better place, leaving Cowen with an arm hanging loosely, which he was patently uncomfortable with, but he took over the role of host.

He touched Cowen several times, murmured something to him that made him laugh, and was so unbothered by the snappers’ demands that he was able to do an amusing little dance before doing what they wanted.

But it was in the press conference that Sarkozy came into his own. The Taoiseach read a speech. The French president talked, with passion.

If he had notes, they were not evident. He argued points, gave examples, quoted references.

He strove to make his points clear to everybody and repeatedly included Brian Cowen in word, in gesture and in the use of the Taoiseach’s first name.

Then came the questions, and the biggest contrast between the two men. Brian Cowen did what Brian Cowen does in the Dáil. He defaulted into general statements, rather than answering the specific question.

Nicolas Sarkozy took the questions, answered them, and energetically sought to persuade the questioners as well as the viewers.

With the exception of a convincing final summary, Cowen was a presence, but not a personality.

Sarkozy, on the other hand, was much more than present.

In every way, start to finish, he was engagé.