I checked my stack of magazines, and while I did not find the article that I was referring to, I did find a similar thing in Flyer, Nov. 2006, which deals with flying in Ireland.
"Now, unlike the UK, you must close flightplans in Ireland. If you land at a controlled airfield then the flightplan will be automatically closed. Ifyou land at an airfield with an AFIS, then they may be helpful and close it for you, but check it - it is your responsibility! If you land at an uncontrolled airfield, then either close the flightplan with Shannon or Dublin over the radio before landing, or call Shannon Low Level on [tel] after landing, and ask them to close it for you."
I've still got the feeling that the UK is the odd man out with regards to closing flightplans... As far as I know (but I'm here to verify!) the rest of Europe works identical to the Ireland situation as listed above.