I NEVER thought I’d say this, but I feel ashamed to be Irish.

It’s the fault of Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar.

8 Why is Irish PM Leo Varadkar a cheerleader for the EU? It’s no friend of Ireland

His Brexitphobia — his weird determination to scupper the UK’s exit from the EU — is draining Ireland of its best ­qualities. It has made this nation, known for its rebellious spirit, into the pathetic patsy of the Brussels oligarchy.

This land of rebel hearts and independent minds now does the bidding of EU suits hell-bent on punishing Britain with a bad Brexit deal.

With Varadkar at the helm, like the school dweeb sucking up to the bullies in order to protect his own hide, Ireland now plays the role of cheerleader to Brussels’ imperious sneering at Britain.

What a tragic fall: From a plucky nation celebrated for its unruly streak to the sad bag-carrier for the Brussels machine. Well done, Leo.

8 Varadkar has warned that if the UK crashes out of the EU, it will also leave the Single European Sky programme, which he incorrectly claims would prevent British planes flying over the Emerald Isle Credit: Alamy

Varadkar has been kicking up a fuss about Brexit for months. He has been pushing the fact-free line that Brexit will be devastating for Ireland.

In June, he went on a Brexit-bashing rant in which he said Britain must not be allowed to “destroy” the EU.

Former Conservative leader Iain­Duncan Smith lashed out at Varadkar after he made that comment, telling him to quit “strutting around and start ­behaving like an adult”. Quite right, IDS: There is a squawking baby quality to Varadkar’s tantrums over Brexit.

His latest wheeze is to threaten that British aeroplanes will not be able to fly over the Emerald Isle if there is a “no- deal” Brexit.

Last week he warned that if the UK crashes out of the EU, it will also leave the Single European Sky programme, which coordinates flights over Europe.

“If they want their planes to fly over our skies, they would need to take that into account,” he said.

8 Ireland also looks to Britain to protect the very skies Varadkar says our planes will be banned from - including the RAF Typhoons that intercepted Russian bomber planes that got close to Irish skies Credit: AFP or licensors

And now he is about to embark on a tour of European cities, where he plans to talk an awful lot about . . . you guessed it, Brexit. The man is obsessed.

Europeans, brace yourselves: Irish moaner incoming.

Varadkar’s blather about British planes being forbidden from Irish skies sums up his entire shtick on this issue.

Like everything he says about Brexit, these comments were shrill and factually incorrect.

The truth, as Downing Street pointed out, is that “overflight rights” are ­guaranteed by international treaties, not EU membership.

So British jets will enjoy as much liberty in Irish clouds post-Brexit as they did pre-Brexit.

Varadkar’s dire mumblings about Brexit bringing about a hard border in Ireland are also more Project Fear than Fact.

There is no need — or desire — for a souped-up, boulders-and-fences border between northern and southern Ireland.

8 Former Conservative leader Iain­ Duncan Smith recently lashed out at Varadkar, telling him to 'quit strutting around and start ­behaving like an adult' Credit: Rex Features

Across the world, nations that are close neighbours but which have different ­trading rules have found ways to streamline the exchange of goods and transport of people.

There’s no reason Ireland and the UK cannot do likewise.

And yet fears of a hard border are still talked up by EU cynics and their sad lackeys in Varadkar’s circle. Why? Because Brussels is actively looking for a stumbling block to Brexit. For that ­technical glitch that might be whipped out as a way of saying: “See? Brexit is a political folly and it must be stopped.”

This is a profoundly cynical exploitation of Ireland’s simple, practical border ­questions, with the aim of wounding or even killing Brexit.

Brussels’ true and sinister aim is to keep Northern Ireland beholden to EU diktats so that it can say: “Maybe all of Britain should stay in our imperial project.”

Shame on Varadkar for assisting it in this anti-democratic strike against Brexit.

8 Former Brexit secretary David Davis caused an Anglo-Irish stink in April when he said Varadkar’s government was bowing to Sinn Fein Credit: PA:Press Association

Some are now wondering if Varadkar is too snug with Sinn Fein.

Former Brexit secretary David Davis caused an Anglo-Irish stink in April when he said Varadkar’s government was bowing to Sinn Fein. This is “inaccurate”, huffed Varadkar.

Yet Varadkar has encouraged Sinn Fein MPs to take their seats in Westminster — which they have always refused to do — in order to “make things better by Ireland” by voting against any attempt to get ­Britain out of the customs union. Varadkar and SF are singing from the same hymn sheet: Both want to bruise Britain and ensure it doesn’t fully leave the EU, even though voters have said we must do this.

David Trimble, former leader of the Ulster Unionist Party, summed it up when he said Varadkar is trying to “out Sinn Fein Sinn Fein”.

8 David Trimble, former leader of the Ulster Unionist Party, accused Varadkar of trying to 'out Sinn Fein Sinn Fein' Credit: Getty Images - Getty

The most perverse thing about ­Varadkar’s pom-pom waving for the EU is that he is siding with an institution that has treated Ireland like trash, while sneering at a nation — Britain — that has helped it a great deal in recent years.

If Varadkar thinks the EU is a friend of Ireland, he is even dumber than he looks.

In 2001, Irish voters rejected the Nice Treaty, which expanded the EU into Eastern Europe.

In 2008 they voted against the Lisbon Treaty, which strengthened Brussels’ power over European affairs.

These were Brexit-like revolts. And how did the EU respond to them?

8 Varadkar’s dire mumblings about Brexit bringing about a hard border in Ireland are also more Project Fear than Fact Credit: SWNS:South West News Service

The same way they have responded to Brexit: By demonising Irish voters as dim and racist.

The Irish were forced to vote again, on both Nice and Lisbon, and the second time round they gave what was ­considered the “right” answer: Yes to both treaties.

And yet Varadkar creepily cosies up to the anti-Irish EU while insulting the pro-Irish UK

The UK has assisted Ireland in so many ways of late.

We bailed it out when it was experiencing serious economic turbulence.

Following the crash of the so-called “Celtic Tiger” economy, British taxpayers pumped £20billion into the Irish economy.

Between 2009 and 2011, one in every four pounds that our Government spent on bailing out British banks found its way to Ireland.

Ireland also relies on Britain for its oil and gas: It sources 90 per cent of both from the UK.

The RAF keeps a close eye on Irish airspace. Earlier this year, RAF Typhoons intercepted Russian bomber planes that got close to Irish skies.

8 Irish crews will continue to fish British waters after Brexit Credit: Reuters

And, as Ian Paisley Jnr of the Democratic Unionist Party has pointed out, after Brexit the waters used by Irish fishermen will become British waters.

And Britain, of course, is keen to allow the Irish to continue fishing these waters.

Why is Varadkar snuggling up to an oligarchy that has trampled all over the democratic wishes of Irish people, while ridiculing his next-door neighbour that has had Ireland’s back in recent years?

Because he is being used.

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Ireland is being played like a fiddle. It is being exploited by the EU as part of its effort to demonise and weaken Brexit.

Varadkar needs to wake up. He has got to realise that he has only fake friends in Brussels, but real friends here in the UK.