Declan Brady, played by Jay Duffy, first appeared on 2 August 2011. Declan is the son of Brendan (Emmett J. Scanlan) and Eileen Brady (Rachel Doherty). Of his son's casting, Keith Duffy said "They were looking for an Irish guy in Hollyoaks. They rang Duffy up, he went to London, did an audition, did a screen test, they called him back and they gave him the job." Duffy said that he did not expect to secure the role because it was a real audition and he hadn't got much acting experience. He was initially signed to appear in a small number of episodes.