Andy Barr was a communist and Trade Unionist. He sat on the executive committee of the ICTU and was president of the Confederation of Shipbuilding and Engineering Unions.

Professor Thomas Wilson was a Belfast-born economist and professor at Glasgow University. He was Economic Consultant to the Northern Ireland government 1964-1965 and his report produced proposed measures to improve the infrastructure and provide more training, so as to attract industry to the province. It brought some prosperity, but hopes were dashed when the troubles erupted at the end of the 1960s.