A theory of phase locking of radiation emitted by individual fibres of a mu
lticore fibre laser with the help of an external mirror is developed. The T
albot effect in radiation from an annular set of emitters is described anal
ytically. The theoretical results are compared with the results of experime
nts and numerical calculations. The method of collective mode selection in
the multicore set with the help of a spherical mirror producing a nearly co
ncentric cavity is analysed.