Meet Ireland’s youngest experts on the political, economic and cultural complexities of the European Union. And it’s all thanks to fruit smoothies.

Election planning and proposals for a special conference to approve going into any future coalition in government will form part of discussions at this week’s Fine Gael pre-Dáil conference.

Rather than ban the debate or protest outside the venue, it is our duty to engage and challenge the likes of Nick Griffin, writes Emmanuelle Schön-Quinlivan