The only people IRA truly feared were the SAS and Mi5, does anyone think PAFF really fear the paras? SAS used to go deep into the republic and track down IRA across the globe, Paras are being ambushed by the very guys they are meant to be hunting
Well, I'll be saying that the SAS had 'shoot to kill' authorization, but not always. Most of the intel, the SAS got was pure BS! Read Soilder - 'I' by Pete Winner or The Regiment by Rusty Fermin, they all talk that before the Regiment became famous in the Embassy Siege, they were hardly getting any good successes because the higher ups would not see them anymore than a commando outfit, sending nine of them to face of an entire communist Army in Mirbat (one of the only few times after 1945 and prior to 1980s, that the SAS were taken seriously)
If you read another book, called First into Action by former SBS guy, he talkes about a guy codenamed "O' Sally" known to have killed alot of special forces members and had a tight security. His first ambush was to kill that guy and it failed.
Lastly, SAS had less to do with IRA's defeat than 14 Int. Mi5 did not do much. The now called SRR "special reconnaissance regiment" was called 14 Intellegence Company or the "Det" back then. They did much of the work. SAS and SBS lads would fill in roles and go on two year deputation, just like Para SF do in SG in order to be involved in a proper mission against the IRA.
In those days, as Former Navy SEAL Chuck Pfarrer recounts an SAS soilder who was friends with him that the SAS and IRA would play a cowboy's sniper showdown in Belfast. The IRA would be smuggled into buildings via trucks, the SAS would do the same. Both would dig holes in buildings and try sniping each other. He wrote this in his book "Warrior Soul" comparing the craftmanship of this style of warfare with the foolish looking peacekeeping operations he did in Beruit, 1983
Lastly, do you know how many civies got killed in all the SAS and MRF shootings, dont bang heads about the 3 civies killed in Kashmir if you want the same results. And the main factor is that Margret Thatcher was actually the first one to take the threat of terrorism seriously.