Exhibit 31.1

                                  CERTIFICATION

     I, Harry D. Madonna, certify that:

     1.  I have reviewed this annual report on Form 10-K of Republic First
         Bancorp, Inc. (the "company");

     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 company as of, and for, the periods presented in this report;

     4.  The company'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)) for the company
         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
                company, 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)  Evaluated the effectiveness of the company'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

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

     5.  The company's other certifying officers and I have disclosed, based on
         our most recent evaluation of internal control over financial
         reporting, to the company's auditors and the audit committee of the
         company'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 company'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 company's
                internal control over financial reporting.


Date: March 18, 2005          /s/ Harry D. Madonna
                              --------------------------------------------------
                              Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer





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