around 1970 there was public disquiet about threats to the bourn vincent memorial park. the irish authorities looked at international practices in classifying and managing of national parks. it was decided to expand and re-designate the park as a national park that corresponded broadly to iucn category ii. a decision was also made to establish other national parks in ireland. almost has been added to the original park, including the three lakes, knockreer estate, ross island, innisfallen, and the townlands of glena, ullauns, and poulagower. the park is now more than double the size it was in 1932. as the irish economy became wealthier and the perception of the role of national parks changed, much more money was made available to the park.