US consul general Mr. Joseph O'Neill leaves Bermuda on Tuesday having made recommendations on US policy toward the Island.

He will be leaving to make room for Mr. Bob Farmer, the new Presidential nominee currently undergoing Senate approval. He is expected to take his post by the end of July.

Mr. O'Neill was dispatched to Bermuda as a senior State Department "troubleshooter'' following the surprise launch of the Independence initiative by Premier the Hon. Sir John Swan.

In the five months since his arrival, he says he has come to view Bermuda as a complex and changing society trying in a healthy way to improve its race relations.

Although Mr. O'Neill refused to discuss any aspect of his policy suggestions, it is clear from his statements that he believes the US should play closer attention to the Island.

"Maybe the best thing that can be said about our relations is that because they are excellent sometimes we don't give them the attention and care they deserve,'' Mr. O'Neill said. "It's my hope since coming here that the consciousness level of the Department of State has been jogged a bit.'' Mr. O'Neill said when he moved to Bermuda he didn't know much about the Island.

"I was misinformed by Washington that it was a cut and dry political scene,'' he said. "Yet I saw a vibrant democratic system where ideas are discussed openly and freely and that the people care very much about what's going.

"This is an intellectually interesting political scene. It's not cut and dry.

It's extremely interesting to watch and extremely difficult to understand all the facets and how they relate.'' Mr. O'Neill said the US does not have concerns about Bermuda, but it does have an interest in it remaining "politically and economically stable and that the American tourists coming here continue to be safe''.

Mr. O'Neill's reference to safety was not made lightly. A recent rash of robberies and break-ins against American tourists is one of his biggest concerns.

"We have a significant number of tourists who come here and if there's anything that upsets me it's that once a week some American tourist is robbed.

"Thank God nobody is hurt yet, but unless something is done to stop this some of those tourists won't come here and that will not be good for Bermuda-America relations.'' "I truly believe Bermuda is probably the safest place of all the offshore islands. But if this thievery continues the word will get back to the US and people will not differentiate between Bermuda and some crime-ridden tourist place.'' "I don't know the reason for this increase in thievery, but there has to be some sort of stoppage to it.'' Mr. O'Neill spent most of his time trying to understand the Island's politics.

Although he declined to answer questions about his findings, it is probable the demise of the Premier's Independence initiative led him to report that Independence will not be a factor here for at least another year.

In addition, Mr. O'Neill has come to believe the Island possesses an inherent stability that will not allow law and order to deteriorate to the point it could become a problem for the US.

Mr. O'Neill said the completion of his policy recommendations had nothing to do with his departure.

He had been scheduled to go back to Washington in early July for consultations and to take a seat on a senior promotions board -- a stayover that would have made returning to Bermuda before Mr. Farmer's arrival pointless.

"So we're going to make a clean break of it,'' he said.

One of the more interesting observations put forward by Mr. O'Neill was on how Bermudians relate to each other.

"I think Bermudians are well and truly hard on each other,'' he said.

"Bermudians talking to foreigners are unusually polite and sensitive, but when they talk about and to each other they're not as nice, not as charitable as they are to foreigners.

"It's something I've had difficulty understanding because Bermuda is a great big extended family.'' On race relations, Mr. O'Neill said they're "not as good as some people say and not as bad as some people say''.

He added: "I think there is a certain vision here about race relations...

The majority of the people know there can and should be and will be an improvement in them. But all thoughts die hard.'' Mr. O'Neill referred to the Irish experience in America which began in the 1700s and the bigotry which even questioned John F. Kennedy's patriotism before and after becoming president.

"It takes a long time to change bigotry.

"I have no solution on how to change people's minds except that each of us must act correctly in our own way.'' Mr. O'Neill said Bermuda's prospects on improving race relations were excellent if people continued discussing the issue while ignoring the people on the fringes.

"I'm saying that everything I hear is that race relations are improving,'' he said.

Mr. O'Neill suggested the best perspective on Bermuda's race relations might be gained by observing the lives of people and their expectations for the future in overseas cities.

"All foreigners will say Bermuda is really much better off and Bermudians will say `No, things are bad'. People outside looking in see a different picture than people inside looking in.

"I wish the racial climate in Bermuda could be transposed to the United States.

"Bermudians are hard on themselves they should in the main be proud of what Bermuda is and what they're doing to make it better.'' Mr. Joseph O'Neill.