Item 31.2  Rule 13a-14(a)/15d-14(a) Certifications







                                 CERTIFICATIONS
                                 --------------


I, Karl W. Mueller, certify that:

      1.   I have reviewed this quarterly report on Form 10-Q of Old
           Republic International Corporation ("the registrant");

      2.   Based on my knowledge, this report does not contain any untrue
           statement of a material fact or omit to state a material fact
           necessary to make the statements made, in light of the
           circumstances under which such statements were made, not
           misleading with respect to the period covered by this report;

      3.   Based on my knowledge, the financial statements, and other
           financial information included in this report, fairly present
           in all material respects the financial condition, results of
           operations and cash flows of the registrant as of, and for,
           the periods presented in this report;

      4.   The registrant's other certifying officer(s) and I are
           responsible for establishing and maintaining disclosure
           controls and procedures (as defined in Exchange Act Rules
           13a-15(e) and 15d-15(e)) and internal control over financial
           reporting (as defined in Exchange Act Rules 13a-15(f) and
           15d-15(f))for the registrant and have:

                (a) Designed such disclosure controls and procedures,
                or caused such disclosure controls and procedures to
                be designed under our supervision, to ensure that
                material information relating to the registrant,
                including its consolidated subsidiaries, is made
                known to us by others within those entities,
                particularly during the period in which this report
                is being prepared;

                (b) Designed such internal control over financial
                reporting, or caused such internal control over
                financial reporting to be designed under our
                supervision, to provide reasonable assurance
                regarding the reliability of financial reporting and
                the preparation of financial statements for external
                purposes in accordance with generally accepted
                accounting principals;



                (c) Evaluated the effectiveness of the registrant's
                disclosure controls and procedures and presented in
                this report our conclusions about the effectiveness
                of the disclosure controls and procedures, as of the
                end of the period covered by this report based on
                such evaluation; and

                (d) Disclosed in this report any change in the
                registrant's internal control over financial
                reporting that occurred during the registrant's most
                recent fiscal quarter (the registrant's fourth fiscal
                quarter in the case of an annual report) that has
                materially affected, or is reasonably likely to
                materially affect, the registrant's internal control
                over financial reporting; and

      5.   The registrant's other certifying officer(s) and I have
           disclosed, based on our most recent evaluation of internal
           control over financial reporting, to the registrant's auditors
           and the audit committee of the registrant's board of directors
           (or persons performing the equivalent functions):

                (a) All significant deficiencies and material
                weaknesses in the design or operation of internal
                control over financial reporting which are reasonably
                likely to adversely affect the registrant's ability
                to record, process, summarize and report financial
                information; and

                (b) Any fraud, whether or not material, that involves
                management or other employees who have a significant
                role in the registrant's internal control over
                financial reporting.


Date: November 7, 2005


                                             /s/ Karl W. Mueller
                                            -----------------------------------
                                                 Karl W. Mueller, Senior Vice
                                                 President and Chief Financial
                                                 Officer




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