Privacy & Cookie Policy
Eastern & Midlands Holdings Limited t/a Martin Shortt
Last updated: August 2026
At Martin Shortt, we respect your privacy and are committed to protecting your personal information.
This Privacy & Cookie Policy explains what personal information we collect, why we collect it, how we use and protect it, who we may share it with, how long we keep it, and the rights you have in relation to your personal information.
It also explains how cookies and similar technologies are used on the Martin Shortt website.
This policy applies to information collected through our website, by telephone, email, in person and through our wider business activities.
1. Who we are
Eastern & Midlands Holdings Limited t/a Martin Shortt is a private limited company providing estate agency, property, insurance and related financial services.
Company registration number: 89749
VAT registration number: IE 6573018U
Registered office: Cavan Street, Oldcastle, Co. Meath
Website: www.martinshortt.ie
Martin Shortt is regulated by the Property Services Regulatory Authority (PSRA), Firm Number 002684, and the Central Bank of Ireland in relation to applicable regulated activities.
For the purposes of data protection legislation, Eastern & Midlands Holdings Limited is the data controller. This means that we are responsible for deciding how and why your personal information is collected and used.
2. Information we collect
The personal information we collect depends on how you interact with us and the services you use.
We may collect information including:
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Your name and contact details
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Postal address
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Email address
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Telephone number
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Date of birth where required
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Identification and proof-of-address information
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Financial and banking information where required
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Insurance information and relevant insurance history
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Property-related information
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Correspondence and communications with you
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Information relating to property viewings and enquiries
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Information provided when requesting a property inspection or valuation
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Information relating to insurance, mortgage or financial services enquiries
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Information relating to your property alerts or mailing-list subscriptions
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Information provided by professional advisers or other parties involved in a transaction
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Information required for legal, regulatory, anti-money-laundering and due-diligence purposes
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Feedback you provide about our services
Where necessary, we may also obtain information from third parties, including professional advisers, referrers, credit-reference agencies, insurance companies, screening providers and publicly available sources.
3. How we collect your information
We may collect personal information when you:
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Contact us by telephone, email or through our website
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Enquire about one of our properties or services
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Arrange or attend a property viewing
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Ask us to provide a valuation or inspect a property
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Instruct us to sell, let or otherwise provide services in relation to a property
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Purchase or rent a property through us
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Request insurance, mortgage or other financial services
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Subscribe to property alerts or mailing lists
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Visit one of our offices or premises
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Provide services to us or work with us
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Supply goods or services to our business
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Otherwise provide personal information to us as part of our business relationship
Where information is provided to us through a third-party website or service, that organisation's own privacy policy and terms may also apply.
4. How we use your information
We use personal information where necessary to provide our services, manage our business and comply with our legal and regulatory obligations.
Depending on your relationship with us, this may include:
Property sales and lettings
We use your information to:
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Market and sell properties
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Arrange property viewings
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Communicate with buyers, sellers, landlords and tenants
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Arrange valuations and property inspections
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Progress property transactions
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Facilitate contracts, sales, purchases and lettings
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Communicate with solicitors, surveyors, planners, builders and other professionals involved in a transaction
Where necessary to complete a property transaction, we may provide relevant personal information to solicitors or other parties involved in the transaction.
Insurance, mortgage and financial services
Where you request an insurance quotation, mortgage or other financial service, we use your information to assess your requirements, obtain quotations and provide or arrange the relevant service.
Where necessary, information may be shared with relevant insurers, financial institutions, brokers or other service providers involved in providing the requested service.
Legal and regulatory requirements
We may process personal information to:
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Comply with applicable laws and regulations
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Meet anti-money-laundering requirements
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Verify identity
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Conduct appropriate due diligence
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Respond to requests from regulators, government bodies or law-enforcement authorities
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Comply with court orders or other legal requirements
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Protect our legal rights and interests
Business administration
We may use personal information to:
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Manage our client and business relationships
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Maintain records
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Process payments
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Communicate with you
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Manage our IT systems and services
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Maintain business continuity and backups
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Improve our services
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Deal with complaints, queries and feedback
5. Our lawful basis for processing
We only process personal information where we have a lawful basis to do so under applicable data protection legislation.
Depending on the circumstances, this may include:
Contract
Where processing is necessary to enter into or perform a contract with you, such as when providing property, insurance or other services.
Legal obligation
Where we are required to process information to comply with a legal or regulatory obligation, including applicable anti-money-laundering and regulatory requirements.
Legitimate interests
Where processing is necessary for our legitimate business interests, provided those interests are not overridden by your rights and freedoms.
This may include maintaining professional business contacts, managing our business relationships, protecting our business and improving our services.
Consent
Where required, we may ask for your consent to process personal information for a particular purpose.
Where processing is based on consent, you may withdraw that consent at any time. Withdrawal of consent does not affect the lawfulness of processing carried out before consent was withdrawn.
6. Marketing and property alerts
We may contact you about properties, services, property alerts or other information that may be relevant to you.
Where consent is required for electronic direct marketing, we will obtain the appropriate consent.
You can unsubscribe from marketing communications at any time by using the unsubscribe option provided in the communication or by contacting us.
The Data Protection Commission states that electronic direct marketing generally requires affirmative consent, subject to limited exceptions for existing customers where specific conditions are met.
You also have the right to object to the processing of your personal information for direct marketing purposes at any time.
7. Who we share your information with
We do not sell or rent your personal information to third parties.
We may share relevant information where necessary to provide our services, complete a transaction, comply with our legal obligations or operate our business.
Depending on the circumstances, this may include:
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Solicitors
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Surveyors
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Architects
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Planners and planning consultants
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Banks and financial institutions
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Insurance companies and brokers
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Mortgage providers
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Property developers and builders
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Referencing and screening agencies
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Professional advisers
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Government departments and public authorities
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Regulators
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Law-enforcement authorities
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Auditors
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IT, hosting, software and other technology service providers
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Other professional service providers involved in a transaction
We only provide third parties with information that is necessary for the relevant purpose.
Where we appoint service providers to process personal information on our behalf, we require them to maintain appropriate security measures and to process information only in accordance with our instructions.
8. International transfers
Some of our service providers may process personal information outside Ireland or the European Economic Area (EEA).
Where personal information is transferred outside the EEA, we will take appropriate steps to ensure that the transfer is carried out in accordance with applicable data protection legislation and that appropriate safeguards are in place where required.
If you would like further information about international transfers involving your personal information, you can contact us using the details below.
9. How long we keep your information
We retain personal information only for as long as reasonably necessary for the purposes for which it was collected, including to meet legal, accounting, regulatory and reporting requirements.
The appropriate retention period depends on the nature of the information and our relationship with you.
For example, certain property transaction and identification records may need to be retained for a specified period to comply with legal and regulatory requirements, including anti-money-laundering obligations.
Our existing records-management policy provides for certain client information to be retained for extended periods where necessary to meet legal, regulatory and business requirements.
Where information is no longer required, we will securely delete it or, where appropriate, anonymise it.
10. Keeping your information secure
We take the security of your personal information seriously.
We use appropriate technical and organisational measures designed to protect personal information against accidental loss, unauthorised access, misuse, alteration or disclosure.
These measures include:
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Data minimisation
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Password and account security practices
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Security measures for computers, mobile devices and online systems
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Appropriate website and hosting security
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Physical security measures
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Staff training and accountability
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Appropriate controls over third-party service providers
No method of transmitting or storing information can be guaranteed to be completely secure. However, we take reasonable steps to protect the information entrusted to us.
11. Your data protection rights
Under applicable data protection law, you may have the following rights in relation to your personal information:
Right of access
You can request a copy of the personal information we hold about you.
Right to rectification
You can ask us to correct inaccurate or incomplete information.
Right to erasure
In certain circumstances, you can ask us to delete your personal information.
This right is subject to exceptions where we have a legal or legitimate reason to retain the information.
Right to restrict processing
In certain circumstances, you can ask us to restrict how we process your personal information.
Right to object
You can object to certain types of processing, including processing based on legitimate interests.
You have an absolute right to object to the processing of your personal information for direct marketing purposes.
Right to data portability
In certain circumstances, you can request that personal information you have provided to us is supplied in a structured, commonly used and machine-readable format, or transferred to another organisation.
Right to withdraw consent
Where we process your information on the basis of consent, you may withdraw your consent at any time.
These rights are subject to certain legal conditions and exemptions. Further information on data protection rights is available from the Data Protection Commission.
12. How to exercise your rights
If you wish to exercise any of your data protection rights, or have a question about how we process your information, please contact us:
Telephone: 049 8541888
Email: info@martinshortt.ie
We may need to request information from you to verify your identity before responding to certain requests.
We will deal with requests in accordance with applicable data protection legislation.
13. Cookies
Our website uses cookies and similar technologies.
A cookie is a small text file that may be stored on your computer, phone or other device when you visit a website. Cookies can be used to make websites function correctly, remember preferences and, where you consent, provide information about how a website is used.
Cookies can be set by Martin Shortt or by third-party services that operate on our website.
14. Types of cookies we may use
Strictly necessary cookies
These cookies are required for the website to operate correctly or to provide a service that you have specifically requested.
Because these cookies are necessary for the operation of the website, they may be used without consent where permitted by applicable law.
Analytics cookies
We may use analytics technologies, such as Google Analytics, to help us understand how visitors use our website.
Analytics information may include things such as:
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The number of visitors to the website
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The pages visitors view
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How visitors navigate the website
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General information about the device and browser being used
Analytics cookies are not essential to the operation of the website and require user consent where applicable.
Other cookies and third-party technologies
From time to time, the website may include third-party services or content that use cookies or similar technologies.
The specific services used may change over time. Where a service requires consent, we will seek your consent before activating the relevant cookies or technologies.
15. Managing your cookie preferences
Where the website uses non-essential cookies, you can choose whether to accept or reject them through our cookie consent mechanism.
You can also change or withdraw your cookie preferences at any time through the cookie settings available on the website.
You can also manage cookies through your browser settings. However, blocking certain cookies may affect the functionality of some parts of the website.
The Irish Data Protection Commission confirms that consent is generally required for storing or accessing information on a user's device, subject to limited exceptions for strictly necessary functionality.
16. Third-party websites
Our website may contain links to third-party websites, including property portals, social media platforms and other websites.
If you follow a link to another website, that website will have its own privacy and cookie policies. We are not responsible for the privacy practices, content or security of third-party websites.
We recommend that you review the relevant privacy policy before providing personal information to any third-party website.
17. Automated decision-making
Martin Shortt does not use personal information for solely automated decision-making that produces legal or similarly significant effects on individuals.
18. Data breaches
We maintain procedures for identifying, managing and responding to personal data breaches.
Where required by law, we will notify the relevant supervisory authority and affected individuals of a personal data breach.
If you believe that your personal information has been accessed or disclosed inappropriately, please contact us as soon as possible.
19. Complaints
If you have concerns about how we have handled your personal information, we ask that you contact us first so that we have an opportunity to investigate and address your concerns.
You also have the right to lodge a complaint with the Irish Data Protection Commission if you believe that your personal information has not been processed in accordance with applicable data protection law.
Data Protection Commission
6 Pembroke Row
Dublin 2
D02 X963
Ireland
Website: www.dataprotection.ie
20. Changes to this policy
We may update this Privacy & Cookie Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our services, technology, legal requirements or the way we process personal information.
The latest version will always be made available on our website.
Last updated: August 2026
Contact us
If you have any questions about this Privacy & Cookie Policy or how Martin Shortt handles your personal information, please contact:
Eastern & Midlands Holdings Limited t/a Martin Shortt
Cavan Street, Oldcastle, Co. Meath
Email: info@martinshortt.ie
Telephone: 049 854 1888
