Parliament opened Wednesday morning on a sad note with tributes paid to four outstanding Caribbean people who all passed within this week.

The four are: Dame Eugenia Charles, former Prime Minister of Dominica; Dr. Earle Kirby, veterinarian and archaeologist; former national cricketer and footballer Douglas Cambridge and Dr. Ruth Riviere, an educator, who formerly taught secondary school here and last worked at the Cave Hill campus of the UWI. {{more}}

Tributes came from Prime Minister Dr. Ralph Gonsalves, Tourism Minister Rene Baptiste and Northern Grenadines Representative Dr. Godwin Friday, Central Kingstown Representative Conrad Sayers and Foreign Affairs Minister Mike Browne.

Dame Eugenia passed away in Martinique Tuesday where she had been flown for hip replacement surgery after suffering a fall in her home in Roseau. She ruled Dominica as the head of the Freedom Party for 15 years from 1980 and earned the nickname the Iron Lady.

Dame Eugenia became famous for the role she played when she posed alongside United States President Ronald Reagan to call for the invasion of Grenada after internal struggles resulted in the execution of Prime Minister Maurice Bishop.