More often associated with dancers gyrating in darkened clubs, pole-dancing is enjoying a new lease of life - as a form of exercise. And its proponents are keen to emphasise that there's nothing sleazy about it at all.
Helena Clarke of the International Dance Academy on Ormond Quay in Dublin, which offers a six-week course for €114, says: "It's all about fun and fitness. Before, it used to be something that you only got to do if you worked in a club, but now more and more people are getting hooked on it. We are booked out every term."
The fact that celebrities like Kate Moss - who provided a sexy pole-dancing routine for a recent White Stripes video - and Kate Hudson are fans of the new fitness craze only increases the demand for classes.
Joanne Tyrell of Learn to Dance in Dublin says that the studio is now offering 12 classes a week. "It's brilliant craic. Yes, it can look sexy - if you're any good. Even the beginner classes are hard work: we get you airborne on the first night.
"You have to learn to propel your entire body off the pole. It's great for your posture - and it works on everything from your finger muscles to your stomach muscles."
El Fegan, who runs Belfast's first pole-dancing class, Polercise, says it's the latest fitness alternative to aerobics and pilates. "Pole-dancing lessons improve muscle tone, strength and flexibility and increase your confidence by developing your sexy sensual side."
Participants in Fegan's beginners' class start off with a simple warm-up at the pole. Later, they strap on pairs of extremely high-heeled shoes before moving into a series of more erotically inspired manoeuvres. Strong arm muscles are required, as the class members struggle to spin elegantly around the pole.
Many pole-dancing teachers also provide special hen-night classes, where parties are allotted a two-hour training session to learn the basics, with the emphasis more on fun than fitness. Fegan can organise a garter for the bride-to-be, into which guests can tuck a few pre-purchased "feisty fivers" once she has completed her dance routine. She is then invited to spend her money on the Ann Summers merchandise on offer.
Although pole-dancing classes are often styled as a reclamation of female sensuality, earlier this year the BBC scrapped plans for a celebrity pole-dancing show after protests by women's rights campaigners.
Denise Marshall of the Poppy Project, a British Home Office-funded support group for women trafficked into prostitution, said: "Despite celebrity advocates promoting pole-dancing as harmless fun, we must not forget that it has inextricable links to the sexual exploitation of women."
American feminist commentator Ariel Levy has linked this growing female interest in pole-dancing to a wider cultural shift, where women sexually objectify themselves in the name of liberation.
But it is clear that pole-dancing has now entered the mainstream. Next month there will be a world record attempt for the most people performing the same pole-dance routine at the same time. Proceeds from the international event will go to Cancer Research UK.
So far, there are not any pole-dancing classes for men in Ireland, but Tyrell is not averse to the idea. "We have an open-door policy, but we would definitely keep male and female classes separate."