September 2001 to June 2002 - Work continues behind the scenes to set up the 'Open Sky' label, and to prepare the box set for release. The latter is a huge task, as the box set contains a 60 page full colour booklet with around 80 archive photos which have to be collated from various sources, and around 10,000 words of text, much of it newly written.

In addition, original master tapes have to be sourced and transferred to new digital media, several tracks are reworked and remixed, and a whole cd of new and unreleased material is prepared. Unsurprisingly, the original release date has to be delayed.

June 2002 - After a break of a whole year from playing live concerts due to Jo's pregnancy and subequent giving birth, Iona are overjoyed to be back on stage! After a few days rehearsals, the band are back with a very well received run of concerts, starting at the Orange Wow (Fish Quay) Festival in North Shields and then on the Germany for two appearances.

August 2002 - Release of the bands first recording on own label 'Open sky Records'. 'The River Flows' boxset is attracting very positive feedback from fans.

IONA have been back on the road with a number of dates in Europe and the UK.

Zoetermeer photos - August 30 2002

September 2002 - The band perform in the open air at Expo 2002 in Switzerland. Over dinner, Jo announces the miraculous news that she is pregnant again.

September 2002 - The band perform in the open air at Expo 2002 in Switzerland. Over dinner, Jo announces the miraculous news that she is pregnant again.

October 2002 - Dave & Debbie begin their exciting home-based Son-Rise programme with their autistic son Luca. This cuts down the time Dave is able to spend on Iona matters.

Dave & Debbie begin their exciting home-based Son-Rise programme with their autistic son Luca. This cuts down the time Dave is able to spend on Iona matters.

November 2002 - At the end of the month, the band perform their last concerts (in Germany and at the Winter Wonder Rock Festival in Holland), before Joannešs maternity leave. Iona plans are put on hold.

At the end of the month, the band perform their last concerts (in Germany and at the Winter Wonder Rock Festival in Holland), before Joannešs maternity leave. Iona plans are put on hold.

December 2002 - Dave starts work on 'Veil of Gossamer', his first solo album.

Frank van Essen and wife Marlou release a Dutch language Christmas album of traditional Dutch Christmas folk songs, titled 'Immanuel'. The recording, which mixes classical and folk influences, features Troy and Dave on a number of tracks and is proving to be very popular in Frank's native Holland.

Dave starts work on 'Veil of Gossamer', his first solo album.

2003

January - April - Dave works on putting together the Songs for Luca album, including remixing the Iona track 'Beijing' from the first album and sourcing a great live version of 'Matthew - The Man' from a live Iona show in Japan. Present and former Iona members also contribute tracks.

March - Despite being almost eight months pregnant, Jo manages to record some stunning vocal performances for Davešs solo album, although she has to do it sitting down and with plenty of rests in between takes! April Troy's second solo album 'In Pursuit of Illision' is released on his own Lantern Records label.

May - Jo's second son Ethan is born. The 'Songs for Luca' 2 cd album is released to help Dave and Debbie fund their Son-Rise programme for Luca and also to eventually help pay for Luca, Dave and Debbie to attend the Son-Rise 'Intensive' course at the Autism Treatment Centre in the USA. All the artists involved kindly donate tracks for free and even the artwork, mastering and manufacturing are donated!

June - Dave and his wife Debbie take the decision to take their 5 year old autistic son Luca out of school straight away so that they can devote more time to his homebased Son-Rise program

July - mThe band get the rights back for their first 3 album releases (Iona, The Book of Kells and Beyond These Shores) and plan to re-release them on their own Open Sky label later in the year.

September - The reworked version of the track 'Iona' from the band's first album appears on a compilation album released by the mainstream giants BMG Records titled 'Celtic Circle 2'. The 2 cd, 40 track album also features tracks by a whole host of well known artists, including Clannad, Jeff Beck, The Corrs, Mike Oldfield, Sinead OšConnor, Van Morrison, Loreena McKinnett, The Chieftans, Davy Spillane etc, etc. Two Iona tracks - 'Treasure' and 'The Island' (reworked version) are also featured on another compilation album released by The World Wide Music Group, entitled 'The Celtic Worship Collection'. Other artists also featured on this album include Eden's Bridge, Jeff Johnson and Robin Mark. Troy's latest solo album 'In Pursuit of Illusion' enters the 'Out of this World' top 10 for 'progressive and symphonic rock' albums on the Dutch web site www.progwereld.org

October - Troy and Dave play their first ever gigs and a duo at venues in the UK. The set includes solo album material, traditional folk tunes and Iona tracks and the concerts are very well received. Included in the set are tracks like 'Conscious', the opening track from Troy's 'Illusion' - quite a challenge for the boys to play it live as the album version features a whole cast of musicians including the York Cantores Choir!

November - Troy's latest solo album 'In Pursuit of Illusion' has been getting some good reviews and is now available in many mainstream music shops thanks to a distribution deal with the Discovery record label. Meanwhile Troy and Dave play a few more UK dates, one of which (at The Studio, Hartlepool) is recorded in their purpose build recording facility. Iona's first 3 albums are re-released on 'Open Sky' - in conjunction with Voiceprint. The albums feature great new artwork, courtesy of Chris Sands, some of which is derived from the Iona box set artwork.

OTHER NEWS

Also during the year Kingsway release their 'New Irish Hymns 2' on which Joanne is one of the featured vocalists, along with Margaret Becker and Kirsty Getty.