The SAS Were in Northern Ireland. What They Did There Is Still Classified

In January 1976, a Labour Prime Minister quietly deployed the Special Air Service to South Armagh. Nobody was supposed to know they were there. Most people found out the hard way. What followed over the next twenty-one years — the intelligence work built in hedgerows and derelict farm buildings, the legal framework that forced the most elite regiment in the British Army to become, above all else, patient, and two operations whose consequences are still being resolved in courts today — is still not fully known. The operational records remain classified. This is what can be established. Topics: SAS Northern Ireland Troubles, 22 SAS Operation Banner, Loughgall ambush 1987, Gibraltar SAS shooting 1988, 14 Intelligence Company Det, East Tyrone Brigade IRA, SAS shoot to kill policy, British special forces Northern Ireland, Stalker inquiry Northern Ireland, SAS classified operations, PIRA ambush Loughgall, Death on the Rock Gibraltar, SAS surveillance South Armagh, British Army Troubles Northern Ireland, IRA East Tyrone Brigade, Bessbrook Mill South Armagh, SAS Iraq Afghanistan doctrine, Anthony Hughes Loughgall, ECHR Gibraltar ruling, Northern Ireland classified history Sources: Urban, Mark — Big Boys Rules: The SAS and the Secret Struggle Against the IRA (1992) Taylor, Peter — Provos: The IRA and Sinn Féin (1997) National Archives — declassified British Army and Cabinet Office documents European Court of Human Rights — McCann and Others v. United Kingdom (1995), Kelly and Others v. United Kingdom (2001) Hansard — Parliamentary records, Northern Ireland security debates 1976–1997 Disclaimer: All images, graphics and video footage used in this production are either created, licensed, or legally transformed under fair use. All materials have been transformed during production to meet the criteria of fair use under Section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976. #BritishMilitary #NorthernIreland #MilitaryHistory #BritishHistory #SAS