Emma Groves (1920-2007) was a political activist who campaigned against the use of rubber bullets, after being blinded by one in 1971. A Belfast-born Catholic with Nationalist political views, Groves was the mother of 11 children. In November 1971 a British Army patrol was carrying out a house-to-house search near Groves’ home in Andersonstown, a Catholic suburb in the south-west of Belfast. Groves, who was playing Nationalist songs loudly on her stereo, looked out her window. A British soldier outside her home fired a rubber bullet that struck Groves in the face. She was given immediate medical care but lost both eyes. In 1973 the British Army awarded Groves £35,000 compensation.
After her recovery Groves launched a campaign against the prolific use of plastic bullets by British and Northern Ireland security forces. Approximately 125,000 rubber and plastic projectiles were fired during the Troubles, causing several deaths and scores of serious injuries. In August 1984 young Belfast father John Downes became one of 17 people killed by rubber or plastic bullets, after he was shot in the chest. An outraged Groves joined forces with lifelong friend Clara Reilly and Jim McCabe, whose wife Nora died in 1981 after being hit in the back of a head by a plastic bullet. Together they founded a pressure group called the United Campaign Against Plastic Bullets. UCAPB lobbied the British government, highlighted the issue in the media and picketed factories manufacturing anti-riot weapons. Groves also campaigned to bring individual soldiers and police officers to justice for their lethal and irresponsible use of rubber bullets.
Despite her age Groves travelled through Europe and the United States campaigning against riot weapons. Her campaigning had its successes. Groves convinced one American company to cease production of plastic bullets. In 2005 the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) announced that plastic bullets would no longer be used by its riot squads. Emma Groves spent her final years in a Belfast nursing home before passing away in April 2007, aged 86.
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