Minnesota (USA) is 2.9 times larger than Ireland.
Area: 70,273 km2 World Factbook
Population: 4,832,765 (July 2014) World Factbook
Ireland, also commonly referred to as the Republic of Ireland, is a sovereign state in Europe occupying about five-sixths of the island of Ireland. Wikipedia
Minnesota is a U.S. state in the Midwestern United States. Minnesota was carved out of the eastern half of the Minnesota Territory and admitted to the Union as the 32nd state on May 11, 1858. Known as the "Land of 10,000 Lakes", the state's name comes from a Dakota word for "clear water". Wikipedia