Bermudian entertainer Tony Brannon is considering leaving the Island, has put his home and recording studio up for sale and ended his 15-year association with the Hawkins Island tourism venture.

The furore and anger caused by his comments about alleged tourism-damaging union tactics in the early 1980s are part of the reason he is reconsidering his future.

And Mr. Brannon has reflected on his use of the term "black Bermudians" and the hurt caused to his fellow Bermudians.

He has expressed deep remorse for articulating and presenting his thoughts in a way that, he says, unintentionally framed them in a racial context.

"I truly apologise for those remarks. I have to take ownership for not saying some things in the right way. It was never my intention to offend anyone based on the colour of their skin or anything of that nature," said the 55-year-old.

"All I was trying to say was that if Premier Dr. Brown wanted to have a debate about the past it is not a one-way street."

Since attaching his remarks below a Bermuda tourism video on the YouTube internet web site (the video, his words and subsequent apology have since been removed) Mr. Brannon has faced anger and been castigated on radio talk shows, in newspaper columns and in Parliament.

But in the middle of the storm he has also received a degree of understanding and affinity from blacks and whites who have told him they understood what he was trying to say.

"My good friend Julian Hall was one of the first people to call me after I said what I did in the way that I did.

"He said maybe we need to hash this race thing out once and for all so we can all move on. Amen to that," said Mr. Brannon.

"All I was trying to say is that we have to take ownership for what we did in the past. I experienced things and felt I was abused. I was called a 'white devil' and that 'we white people were abusing the workers'."

Mr. Brannon referred to the troubled times of the early 1980s when his father Terry and he ran the 40 Thieves night club and found themselves in conflict with certain BIU officials.

The irony of the racial overtones then, as now, is the social integration shown by the Brannons' business.

"Long before the closure of the Island Theatre or the Rosebank, where blacks sat downstairs and whites upstairs, my father was welcoming everyone to his night club. He had no time for racists. One night Sonny Turner was packing the club out and some white folks came in after the show started and said 'Terry, what are those black folks doing sitting in the front row? You should have saved that table for us.'

"Now that's what I call racist. My father looked at the man and said 'Those good people got here before you' — simple as that and the white man huffed and walked off."

The use of adjectives black and white, or any other colour, to describe a person should be done away with, according to Mr. Brannon.

And he said the coming together of people from all sides to the memorial service of the late MP Gloria McPhee, the first woman to hold a Cabinet position in Bermuda, was an example of where Bermuda should be.

"At her funeral people were there from every side, black and white, and the words that were spoken and the understanding that was expressed — why can't that be the way it is in Bermuda all the time? Why can't we do it without all the howling and abuse?"

He and his wife Kay have their home in Southampton up for sale. Mr. Brannon has also placed his home recording studio Blue Clouds on the market for $125,000. Once the home is sold the couple will decide their next move. It may be to buy another property in Bermuda or it could be to move overseas.

The race row is only part of the reason for the house and studio sale and considering a new life abroad. The high cost of living in Bermuda, the winter months without a tourism outlet and the realisation the fruits of a reviving tourism sector will only fully arrive in five or ten years' time, all add to his belief he should look to other options.

It is also partially why he has decided to resign from the Hawkins Island summer events he helped market and promote and provide entertainment for with the Tropical Heat music group.

"I said to Derek Morris (BIC Group chairman) I was considering a different route with my life. I asked him if he wanted me to do the season or did he think it was the right time for me to step out. He said it might be the right time to go, so I said okay. He is still my friend even though we have different views on the business."

Mr. Brannon, who made his fortune when he sold the Bermuda.com web site, has a number of wishes for Bermuda. He wants to know what Government is doing about two wide-ranging reports into the state of Bermuda's music and entertainment scene, one of which he was involved in during the 1980s and a more recent one headed by Stuart Hayward but never acted upon.

"We should be looking at places like Ireland where it has become a tax-free zone for the arts. We are giving no help to anyone in the arts, there is nothing on the table for struggling musicians, and it was the same when the UBP was in power as it is now under the PLP."

On development and tourism, Mr. Brannon says the UBP, PLP and others share the blame for the decline of the sector over past decades.

He would like to see the redevelopment of former hotel sites, such as Lantana and Club Med, and the former military land at Morgan's Point, before virgin land such as Southlands is considered.

Mr. Brannon believes Dr. Brown is proving an effective leader in tourism and has greater potential.

"A good leader in this climate would take Bermuda to the next level and make us say goodbye to all the crap we have been through and give up our hang-ups, whether we are black or white," he said.

"The Premier has to come and lead us out of this if he wants to go down in history as the most unbelievable person to run the country. If he cuts the deal where we all get along together then he will be a hero in everyone's book, including mine."