applicants for nine Government auditing jobs had been shunned.

Everyone who applied for the jobs was interviewed except for one or two whose work and background he was already familiar with, Mr. Dennis said.

Mr. Dennis was responding to a notice taken out in the The Royal Gazette yesterday by a group of Bermudians with accounting qualifications they claimed were internationally accepted.

Under the headline `To Bermudianize or Not To Bermudianize That is The Question', the anonymous group wrote, "We are concerned that non-Bermudians have had interviews with the Public Service Commission, whereas we have not.

"In addition, non-qualified Bermudians have been interviewed.'' The group said "dangerous errors have occurred''.

The first "error'' being: "The long-term mistake of allowing a career entry to non-Bermudians when qualified Bermudians have applied.

"Every employed qualified Bermudian is a national asset and a role model to our youth. Thus a second danger would be to appoint non-qualified persons at all.'' But Mr. Dennis insisted every Bermudian applicant had been dealt with fairly.

He said there were 36 applicants for the jobs, of which 16 were Bermudian and 20 non-Bermudian.

After the interviews were conducted he recommended six Bermudians -- including two accounting students working towards their qualifications -- and three non-Bermudians for the posts. The Public Service Commission will make the final decision.

The Bermudians turned down were considered unqualified because they had been out of the auditing field for several years, working as controllers at small companies, Mr. Dennis said.

He added that the non-Bermudians recommended were to fill middle positions while he chose Bermudians for the senior positions. And accounting students were chosen for the lower-level positions as anyone else would have been over- qualified.