Comedian Dara O'Briain was amongst the many people on the Island whose travel plans were thrown into upheaval last week by the volcanic ash cloud from Iceland.

After performing to a packed house at the Villa Marina last Wednesday (14th April 2010), he and two of his team found their flight had been cancelled.

They were transferred to the Liverpool sailing of the Manannan on Thursday afternoon but the delay forced the cancellation of that evening's show in Woking (now rescheduled for 14th July 2010).

O'Briain went on to tweet about his experience: "Great show in the Isle of Man last night.  Then woke up to find myself trapped by 'volcanic ash'. Yeah, right!  Like that could happen!"

He also described the Manannan as " a swish catamaran... all modern and sleek".

Regarding the disruption caused to air travel by the ash cloud, a spokesperson for the Steam Packet says, "With the most recent updates on the cloud of volcanic ash indicating that air travel may not be possible for some days, passengers can be reassured that there is still capacity on our scheduled sailings to assist those who are unable to travel by air.

"We have capacity to transport over 5,200 passengers a day.  Our special offer allocations remain in place at this time of high demand for ferry travel.

"We are continuing to monitor the situation on a regular basis and will schedule additional sailings if the need arises."

Pictured: Dara O'Briain on the bridge of Manannan with Captain Marco Bertini.