MPs paid their respects to former Clerk to the Legislature Muriel Roach with a tribute and a gift in the House of Assembly yesterday.

Mrs. Roach retired in 2002 after more than 20 years of facilitating both the House of Assembly and the Senate, and she made her first speech to MPs on the floor of the House yesterday morning.

"I didn't intend to still be here at the end of 2002," she admitted. "But I'm glad I stayed."

After six elections and lots of new faces, she said she had many memories ? some she would rather forget, such as 24-hour meetings and a tumble she once took down the House of Assembly stairs.

"I'm still waiting for that elevator," she said, promising she would be back to use it.

And, despite it all, she said she had enjoyed the camaraderie between the two parties and her time with MPs over the years.

Presenting her with a cedar picture frame made by an inmate at Westgate, Premier Alex Scott said Mrs. Roach was an "unsung hero".

There were times with Mrs. Roach when "the smile would disappear", he said, "she would get a little serious, her back would get a little straighter .. You would know to do whatever she said."

Seeing her back in the House, he said, "I suddenly feel that everything is going to run smoothly and on time ? not that it hasn't."

Opposition Leader Grant Gibbons said Mrs. Roach carried out her duties with fairness and professionalism, while Deputy Speaker Jennifer Smith said she was "all things to all people ? and those people were almost all politicians".

"She has done a sterling job."