“There’s a wonderful sequence right at the start of Primary Colors where an aide to Governor Jack Stanton explains the genius of the governor’s handshake. There’s no doubt that Stanton was a master of the art – “The threshold act, the beginning of politics” – as of course was Bill Clinton on whom the character was modelled. But let me tell you something I found out last night: when it comes to the art of the handshake, Mary Coughlan, the deputy prime minister of Ireland knocks both Stanton and Clinton into a cocked hat.”

This week’s column is online.