Irish pop idol’s Twitter following hits 7 million

One Direction star Niall Horan has hit the seven million mark on Twitter, giving him more followers than all the members of Westlife and Boyzone.

The 18-year-old from Mullingar has surpassed all other Irish celebrities in the popularity stakes, with his nearest male pop rival Ronan Keating paling in comparison with 317,000 followers.

Una Healy from the Saturdays, who regularly posts snaps of her baby Aoife and her rugby playing husband Ben Foden on the site, is his next overall rival with 548,000 Twitter fans.