Roger Blaney was educated in Lurgan, Armagh and Queen’s University, Belfast where he qualified in medicine in 1957. He specialised in public health and was head of the Department of Community Medicine and Medical Statistics at QUB until 1988. He is author of Belfast: 100 Years of Public Health (1988), Nótaí ón Lia (1999) and Presbyterians and the Irish Language (1996), a ground-breaking work now in its 4th edition. Ruairí has been a stalwart of both Irish language and community relations organisations, holding positions including Tanaiste of Conradh na Gaeilge, a founder member of Iontaobhas ULTACH, Chairman of Cumann Gaelach Ard Mhic Nasca and a board member of the Community Relations Council and Comhaltas Uladh. He lives in Holywood with his wife Brenda, where they raised an Irish-speaking family of five. They have fourteen grandchildren.
