Exhibit 99.1

NEWS BULLETIN
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Old Republic International Corporation
307 North Michigan Avenue, Chicago, IL 60601-5382 312/346-8100
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For Further Information:

AT OLD REPUBLIC:                        AT FINANCIAL RELATIONS BOARD:
A.C. Zucaro                             George Zagoudis
Chairman & CEO                          General Information
(312) 346-8100                          (312) 640-6663
                                        gzagoudis@financialrelationsboard.com

AT FINANCIAL RELATIONS BOARD:           AT FINANCIAL RELATIONS BOARD:
Leslie Loyet                            Tim Grace
Analysts/Investors                      Media Inquiries
(312) 640-6672                          (312) 640-6667
lloyet@financialrelationsboard.com      tgrace@financialrelationsboard.com
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                                 NYSE:  ORI
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 16, 2005

                      OLD REPUBLIC FILES PRELIMINARY ANNUAL
                               REPORT ON FORM 10-K

CHICAGO - MARCH 16, 2005 Old  Republic  International  Corporation  (NYSE:  ORI)
announced  today that it has filed a report on Form 12b-25  with the  Securities
and Exchange Commission for an automatic fifteen-day extension for the filing of
its Annual Report on Form 10-K. The Company has also filed a preliminary  Annual
Report on Form 10-K which is complete except as to Item 8 which does not contain
the Report of the Independent  Registered  Public Accounting Firm, Item 9A which
does  not  contain  management's  report  on  internal  control  over  financial
reporting  and  its  evaluation  of  disclosure  controls  and  procedures,  and
miscellaneous  exhibits.  These  exclusions  notwithstanding,  Item  8  contains
management's  report taking  responsibility for the preparation of the Company's
consolidated   financial  statements,   and  its  opinion  that  such  financial
statements  present fairly the Company's  financial  position as of December 31,
2004 and 2003,  and the results of  operations  for the three year period  ended
December 31, 2004.

As stated in the  Company's  report  on Form  12b-25  the  filing  extension  is
necessary  to enable it and its public  accounting  firm time to complete  their
reviews and  assessments  of Old  Republic's  internal  control  over  financial
reporting.  As of this date,  management  expects to complete  such  reviews and
assessments  and to issue a completed Form 10-K within the fifteen day extension
period ending on March 31, 2005.

About Old Republic

Chicago-based  Old Republic  International  Corporation is an insurance  holding
company  whose  subsidiaries  market,  underwrite  and provide  risk  management
services for a wide variety of coverages in the property and liability, mortgage
guaranty,  and title insurance  fields.  One of the nation's 50 largest publicly
owned insurance  organizations,  Old Republic has assets of approximately  $10.6
billion and  shareholders'  equity of $3.87  billion.  Its current  stock market
valuation is approximately $4.39 billion.

For the latest news  releases  and other  corporate  documents  on Old  Republic
International visit www.oldrepublic.com


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