Senator Billy Lawless to open Irish Global Pubs Gathering 2016
"You can never be a prophet in your own land." If ever a statement rang true for the owners and managers of Irish pubs beyond the confines of our emerald isle, then that is it. For Billy Lawless, it could not be more fitting and his recent appointment to the Irish Senate reaffirms his stellar work lobbying for immigration reform and in Chicago’s hospitality sector. As Illinois Senator Dick Durbin famously stated “the Lawless family is restaurant royalty in Chicago. The family start with 10 employees, now they have 300." Notably, before relocating to Chicago in the nineties at the tender age of 48; Lawless had been a prominent publican and hotelier in Galway. During this time he was President of the VFI from 1982-84. His key action points were: - Reinforcing the importance of the pub for tourism. - [...]