for the dancers out there...?

Question

do irish dance shoes have a hard shank so you can do pointe?

Answer 1

In traditional Irish dancing there is no 'pointe' position as there is in ballet dancing. Since the success of Riverdance a lot of innovative steps and styles have been introduced and some of them may resemble pointe. The shank of the Irish dance soft shoe used for dancing jigs and reels can be strengthened to protect the foot of the professional dancer.

The site below has information and links to most aspects of Irish dancing, from basic steps to the costume and footware.