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Colm Rooney is a pioneering figure in the foundational years of social robotics, whose work laid the intellectual groundwork for machines designed to interact with humans in socially meaningful ways. His core research areas include multi-agent systems, human-robot interaction, and the philosophical and technical definition of social agency in robots. Rooney’s major contribution is the development of the Social Robot Architecture, a coherent framework that integrates the key elements of agenthood—such as autonomy, perception, and communication—with robotic hardware to enable socially intelligent behaviour. His most-cited papers, including "What is a social robot" and "Agent factory: towards social robots" (each with 18 citations), are among the earliest to formally define and advocate for the application of multi-agent techniques in robotics. He also advanced sensor fusion methods to support social interaction in real-world domains. Though his citation counts are modest by today’s standards, Rooney’s work is notable for its visionary scope and influence on subsequent generations of researchers. His 1999 publications remain essential reading for anyone tracing the conceptual origins of socially interactive robots.