A new Registrar will take over at Government House today, The Royal Gazette can reveal.

And the number three post is to be filled by Peter O'Brien, replacing Paul Dryden, who is moving on to a promoted post in the former Soviet Union.

Mr. O'Brien, 33, arrived on the Island on Saturday and will start work this morning.

He said last night: "I haven't seen much of the Island -- but it's a lot warmer than London.

"But I've done a lot of background reading, a lot of historical background and on what's happened recently.'' He added: "Apart from all the tropical foliage, it's a bit like driving around the English countryside.

"You see all these lush plants and then there's an English-style church in the middle of it.'' Mr. O'Brien, originally from County Durham in England, comes to Bermuda from a posting to the UK delegation to NATO in Brussels.

Before that, he worked for the Foreign Office in London in the Latin American and Eastern departments, the latter concerned with the Baltic states of the former Soviet Union.

Mr. O'Brien worked for the UK Home Civil Service, attached to the Foreign Office, before transferring to the Diplomatic Corps around five years ago.

He applied for the Bermuda post along with several others as part of the Foreign Office's bidding system for jobs.

Mr. O'Brien said: "Bermuda was my first choice -- but you're never sure what you're going to get.'' Mr. Dryden, who has worked in Bermuda for three years, is moving on to a Vice-Consul's post in the ex-Soviet Republic of Turkmenistan, based in the capital Ashgabat.

The relatively new nation is one of the world's biggest gas producers and UK firms have a strong presence there.

Mr. Dryden worked as part of the European Community Monitoring Mission in war-torn Croatia before coming to Bermuda and he has also worked for the Foreign Office in London and Ottawa.

He said: "I have had a wonderful time here in Bermuda, highly enjoyable. I have made a lot of friends.

"It's a very interesting place and very unique in many ways. But, although I'm leaving with a lot of sadness, in my line of work, I expect to leave after three years. "Ashgabat beckons and I'm looking forward to it as a great challenge.'' In addition to his Government House duties, Mr. Dryden helped boost Bermuda abroad when he organised a screening of his Scottish home town's derby clash -- Dundee v. Dundee United -- on satellite TV.

British papers picked up on the Bermuda angle and the Island got columns of free advertising in the UK media.