A group of children who were stranded in Northern Ireland after a number fell ill should be back in the Isle of Man tomorrow.

The children had been competing in an under-13s football tournament.

But the group of 29, including the parents and coaches, were left stranded at Belfast on Sunday after they were refused entry on the boat.

Hopes that they could travel to Dublin on Monday to fly home with Aer Lingus were dashed.

They are sailing from Larne in Northern Ireland to Cairnryan in Scotland and then by road to Heysham.

From there they should be able to get the Manannan back from Heysham to the Isle of Man at noon tomorrow as long as more than 48 hours will have passed since they stopped showing symptoms.

Steam Packet chief executive Mark Woodward insisted the right decision had been made by the captain of the Manannan in Belfast on Sunday because of the risk of exposing other travellers and crew to infection.

He said it would also have meant the vessel being taken out of service for deep cleaning – which would have led to disruption for many more passengers.

The next fast craft back from Belfast to Douglas was next Sunday, meaning they had to face travelling back via Scotland and England.

The lead coach said: ‘We just want to concentrate on getting the kids home.’

Another coach, Gavin Gawne, described the original decision by the ship’s captain as ‘ludicrous’.

But Steam Packet boss Mr Woodward said: ‘We apologise to those to whom we were unable to provide passage on the sailing from Belfast, and apologise for any distress this may have caused.

‘However, the possibility of members of the party having become infected by contact or association with those exhibiting symptoms of Norovirus left no other reasonable option for us to take.

‘Norovirus is extremely contagious and can prove serious to the very young and the very old.

‘Had we allowed any of those exposed to travel we could have put the safety of many more of our passengers at risk, a risk we simply could not take.

‘In addition, the vessel would have had to be withdrawn from service for several days to be deep cleaned and to reduce the risk of further transmission, affecting the immediate travel plans of more than 1,000 passengers on Sunday afternoon and evening as well as in subsequent days.’

Mr Woodward explained that the ship’s master has responsibility for the safety and welfare of all passengers and crew and will – following discussion with relevant authorities and careful consideration - make the decision which is in the best interests of the safety and welfare of passengers and crew.

He said the difficult decision to decline passage to the group on Sunday came after almost two hours of discussions with relevant authorities and following advice from health professionals.