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Dooleys moves to drop Catholic label from Club constitution

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A photo from the Club’s website shows the current Catholic branding. Photo: DOOLEYS.COM

The Board of Dooleys Catholic Club, Lidcombe has proposed to remove a reference to fostering co-operation among Catholics from the club’s objects, calling it “both redundant and unintentionally limiting”.

The special resolution to remove object 7(b), “to create and foster a spirit of co-operation among Roman Catholic men and women”, will be voted on at the Dooleys AGM on 22 November.

“No hidden agendas or anything. It’s just that business today is different to 1946 when the club came to fruition,” Dooleys CEO David Mantle told The Catholic Weekly.

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“We want to try to foster a spirit of co-operation for all. So putting a narrow target audience there it excludes – we are a community organisation, here for everybody.

“Founded by Roman Catholics but at the end of the day it’s a much bigger and more diverse audience we’re targeting.”

Mr Mantle did not anticipate any further immediate revisions to Catholic provisions of the club’s constitution.

Directors of Dooleys must be Catholic but Mr Mantle did not anticipate that rule would change, because alterations to board eligibility rules require the approval of life members.

“No hidden agendas or anything. It’s just that business today is different to 1946 when the club came to fruition,” Dooleys CEO David Mantle told The Catholic Weekly.

“You couldn’t discount anything but at this stage, no,” Mr Mantle said. “Does that mean that in 3-5 years it doesn’t get looked at?”

As well as dignitaries and long-term contributors to the club, life members include former parish priests of St Joachim’s, Lidcombe.

In recent years well-known Catholic clubs have rebranded, such as the Sydney Catholic Club, now the Castlereagh Club, and the Illawarra Catholic Club, now Club Central.
Dooleys intends to keep its “Catholic” brand and an association with the Catholic church, even as it revises its objects.

“Members like it, they’re familiar with it.”

“We have to respect why we were formed and by whom, but the business needs to evolve as the community evolves,” Mantle said.

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