Academic interview in Europe

[Pandora]

I was short-listed for a tenure track position in Europe and am looking for advice on how to prepare and to make sense of their academic interview process as it is unlike any I have ever experienced. It is so different from my interviews in North America that at a minimum are an exhausting all day event from 9am until 7:30pm. I was never interviewed via phone or Skype. All the arrangements have been done via email. The university is paying in advance for most of my travel and I will be reimbursed the rest, but the entire academic interview entails a 20-minute presentation in the morning and an interview in the afternoon with seven people. I was emailed a map of where I need to be by human resources and have had no contact with anyone from the department. From what I read online, it is against university policy to have contact with people from the department as it could bias the selection process. I will be in the country for three days. The interview process is so different across international waters. I will meet the committee for the first time at my research talk. The committee includes an external examiner and mostly university administration. The only person on the panel from the actual department is the department head. Has anyone had academic interviews in UK/Ireland? Any advice would be greatly appreciated. The process is highly unusual?

I never get Skype or phone interviews prior to a campus invite, but those schools are located on the same continent.

[UK]

From what I hear, they gather all the candidates together on the same date in the UK so you will be sitting awkwardly next to them while others' interviews are taking place. Besides that, I hear there are shorter research and teaching presentations which might also fall on the same day. They should also let you know the outcome relatively quickly unlike the US where processes can be dragged out.