There's a deep anti-catholicism within Ulster Protestantism. The Presbyterians and ecumenism have had a tortured and difficult history over the last 20 years. They did not join the Council of Churches for Britain and Ireland. The proposal was to eliminate the ICC and give more authority to the IICM, eliminating some duplication of work, and to cut at least 40 percent of the cost the PCI now incurs to support the two groups. The fear is that the Roman Catholic Church would be perceived to be speaking on behalf of our church.
Fear is what governs much of what goes on in Northern Ireland.
Voters want peace, but, as they admit about themselves, they get spooked when it looks as if peace will be costly. Anxiety is not any less in the Republican camp, where the latest uproar put demonstrators in bloody standoffs with the police to protest the annual parades celebrating Protestant victories in 17th century religious wars. Evangelicals are intent on preserving what they call doctrinal purity, fearing that compromising Calvin on one issue will lead to more compromises. Moderates are hesitant to cast a ballot for more ecumenism, because they have to go back home and face the more conservative folks who sit in their pews - many of whom don't consider Catholicism to be a Christian faith, and who use the Roman church's doctrines about justification, transubstantiation and the role of Christ as evidence. There's deep-seated religious feeling in there.