DUBLIN (Reuters) - Apple's European headquarters in Ireland was briefly evacuated on Monday while police searched the premises following a security alert that staff said had been completed and they had returned to work.

The Irish police, who were assisting in searches with security teams from Apple's county Cork facility, said it could not confirm if the security alert was over, but a staff member told Reuters that employees had returned to their desks.

The iPhone maker employs 5,000 people in the southern Irish county of Cork. Police said the company's main campus where most of the employees are based had been evacuated.

A police spokesman said an army bomb disposal team had not been called to the scene.