13. 9/29/2020 The Northern Ireland Conflict 1968-1998 – An Overview – The Irish Story https://www .theirishstory .com/2015/02/09/the-northern-ireland-conflict-1968-1998-an-overview/#.Ximsp2j7SUk 1 1 / 28 IRA members openly carrying weapons in Derry in 1972. It has recently emerged also that an undercover unit, the MRF, was carrying out assassinations and random shootings in Catholic areas and was responsible for at least 10 deaths, so some deaths attributed to paramilitary violence may actually have been undercover soldiers. The Provisionals believed they were on the verge of victory by the summer of 1972, or at any rate British withdrawal, when the British government opened direct talks with the IRA leadership. In response the IRA called a brief cease