One Direction star Niall Horan now has more Twitter followers than the population of Ireland.

The only Irish member of the hit boy band, Horan hit the six million mark earlier this week, making him the most popular Irish person on the social networking site.

The 18-year-old from Mullingar in Co. Westmeath, said he was shocked when he woke up on Monday morning to see he hit a new level.

"What a surprise to wake up to! 6 million followers! Guys u are amazing, can't say it enough! Thank you!" said the Mullingar singer.

As of Tuesday evening, the blond pop singer had gained another 37,000 followers.

Read more: Top ten Tweets from One Direction's Niall Horan

Listing his address as “mullingar,westmeath,ireland,” the singer’s Twitter profile reads, “im Niall, im in one direction. i sing and play an instrument with 6 strings on it!”[sic]

The closest Irish native in popularity on Twitter is number one golfer Rory McIlroy, who has over one million followers.

Horan has apologized to his fans in the past after he described diehard One Direction fans as “mofos”.

New York born Lady Gaga is currently the most popular person on Twitter with almost 29 million followers.