Despite another fiery meeting, the Bermuda Federation of Musicians and Variety Artists can be redeemed, says member Derek Morris.

Around 15 people attended a meeting at the Leopard?s Club on Sunday which saw Tony Brannon walk out after clashing with current leader Lloyd Simmons who has been blamed for inertia.

Mr. Morris said: ?It got heated, that?s the beast. That?s going to happen.?

However, Mr. Morris said a six-person steering committee had been set up to move the union forward.

?It?s all OK. It ended up positive. Everyone walked away figuring it is going to be OK.?

The committee, which meets again on Thursday, has been set up to help Mr. Simmons and boost membership said Mr. Morris, with the eventual goal being an election.

He said 30 new members have signed up although he was disappointed with the turnout on Sunday. ?Everybody thought everybody else was calling people.?

He said he hoped a website could be set up to promote musicians and raise the profile of the business here and abroad.

?More and more people will want to join and we can find out exactly what kind of talent we have in this country.?

He said links with overseas unions to allow Bermudians to work abroad were needed and he said locals should not be frightened of allowing foreign entertainers here.

?We need to cross borders and have cultural exchanges. We need to open ourselves up to all sorts of things. Closing our doors won?t make any sense. We need to get visitor numbers up, that?s the bottom line.?

He said he was confident Bermuda had good entertainers but they just needed to get organised.

Mr. Brannon agreed that foreign artists could raise the bar for local entertainers who were in danger of becoming complacent because they were seeing little new.

He said he had walked out on Sunday after being angered by Mr. Simmons? continuing determination to stay in his post.

He has vowed not to return until he has gone. Mr. Simmons could not be reached for comment.

On Friday, the Bermuda Trade Union Congress issued a statement in support of Mr. Simmons while attacking Community Affairs Minister Dale Butler who had urged his overthrow.

Yesterday, Mr. Butler said he was right to intervene and suggested it had helped get the ball rolling for the union?s revival.

?I threatened to take over the union myself. They had not had a meeting for four years and they hadn?t filed a financial statement for eight years. How can you possibly justify that? I don?t back down from my statement.?

He said Government needed a union to discuss insurance and immigration matters but had nobody credible to talk to.

Mr. Butler called on those not willing to accept change to hang up their guitars and make way for those who wanted progress.