Michael O’Neill, North Lanarkshire’s director of education, is a man with a past. He was a town planner with Greenock Corporation before entering teaching, much to the amusement of Nigel Lawrie, the head of Port Glasgow High in the neighbouring town.
“As I drive through Greenock on a daily basis,” he told the heads’ conference on Tuesday, “I now know who is responsible for the urban landscape.”
O’Neill was particularly responsible for the notorious Gibbshill housing scheme, which is now being pulled down.
