Cross border pilgrimage route out to tender

Pembrokeshire County Council has published a contract notice seeking an economic operator to oversee, develop and promote a historical pilgrimage route between Ferns in Wexford, Ireland and St David’s in Pembrokeshire, Wales.

Although separated by the Irish Sea, both coastal communities have long been connected by the stories of St David (patron saint of Wales) and his protégé St Aidan (of Wexford).

This contract, valued at €212,000 (£180,000), is part of a wider cross-border heritage and arts programme called Rediscovering Ancient Connections - The Saints, a European Transnational Cooperation (ETC) funded cross-border arts and heritage project, which explores how the early saints, and medieval pilgrimage, has shaped the landscapes, development and present identity in both coastal regions.

During medieval times many Irish pilgrims travelled on pilgrimage to British shrines.

One of the most popular destinations was the shrine of St David located in Pembrokeshire on the south west Wales coast.

Not only did the shrine contain the corporeal relics of St David, in the later medieval period two pilgrimages to St David’s were declared by the Papacy as being equal to one pilgrimage to the Holy See in Rome.

A whole infrastructure sprang up around the pilgrim route to help the travellers on their way – inns, wayside shrines, places to stop and eat.

Key aspects of the present day contract opportunity include a strong focus on developing the pilgrimage product using existing infrastructure (coastal path in Pembrokeshire and related attractions in Wexford), as well as on coordinating and marketing related tourism products.

Also involved in the project are the Pembrokeshire Coast National Park Authority, Wexford County Council and Visit Wexford.

Tenders are due by 15 September 2021, with any economic operator being able bid in this single stage Open procedure procurement exercise.

To obtain further information, please see the contract notice as published on the national Sell2Wales national procurement portal at https://www.sell2wales.gov.wales/search/show/Search_View.aspx?id=AUG368921.

Arfon Consulting’s specialist procurement staff can advise on bidding for this, or any other, public procurement contracts.

Photo by Sandy Millar on Unsplash